Willis relishes being back in Atlanta

[Kori Ellis]

Willis relishes being back in Atlanta

By KAREN ROSEN
The Atlanta Journal-Cons ution
Published on: 10/09/04

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/hawks/1004/10willis.html?UrAuth=aNaNUOcN]UbTTUWUXUUUZTYU\UWU_UVUZU`U`UcTYWYWZV


Kevin Willis has the work ethic, the physique and the focus — if not the hair — that he had when he first joined the Hawks in 1984.

And after playing half of his 42 years in the NBA, he's not ready for any shelf except the bookshelf.

"I think that I'll write a book on this," Willis said. "It's been a heckuva ride. It's had its ups and its downs, but when all the smoke clears, it's been a tremendous blessing."

He even has a le in mind: "The Ageless Wonder."

"I'm definitely going to look forward to talking to him and learning about how he's done it," said Josh Childress, a 21-year-old rookie.

Willis acknowledges that genetics contributes to his longevity, plus his "three favorite meals — chicken, pasta and fish" and running stadium steps at Georgia Tech's Grant Field in the offseason.

"I know I'm 42, but I don't go on the court saying, 'Well, I'm 42 years old,' " he said. "I go on the court like I can still play. I can still run up and down the court, and I can still get some things done.'

Now the 7-footer is back where it all began as an imposing presence on the Hawks roster, as well as the most familiar face on a team full of new ones.

"He's a freak of nature," said Dominique Wilkins, his former teammate and a Hawks vice president who made the initial suggestions to go after Willis. "I mean, to see his body, to see the great shape he's in, it just goes to show what hard work does for you when you believe in yourself and you work as hard as he does.

"I think having Kevin here is going to bring a lot of positive at ude within our team — and we haven't had that in a very long time."

Willis hopes to bookend his career in a Hawks uniform — the No. 42 now matching his age.

"Right now I honestly feel like I could play two more years after this one," he said. "It just has to be the right situation. Things in life need to line up correctly and my body has to continue to hold up."

Signing with Atlanta meant reuniting with his family, which has lived in Roswell the past four years. He can now see son Kevin, 17, play basketball for St. Francis High and watch daughter Jadis, 2 1/2, at the playground.

After playing the past two seasons with the San Antonio Spurs — his seventh NBA team — he signed for one year with the Hawks at the veterans' minimum of $1.1 million.

Always known as an enforcer during games, Willis, who describes himself as a "no-nonsense type guy," serves a dual role of setting an example for younger players.

"I still think Kevin can play 10-15 minutes [a game] and I know he'll probably tell me he can play more than that," said Hawks coach Mike Woodson, who is four years Willis's senior and doesn't hesitate to give him a breather if he needs one during practice. "He's an old head, but he's a good old head. He brings some stability to this team. I was very adamant about getting Kevin Willis in here not because he played for Atlanta years ago, but because he's a good kid and he knows how to work. And he knows how to help me with players on and off the court."

After Willis was drafted out of Michigan State in 1984, he was the only rookie in the NBA to appear in all 82 games. He still holds Atlanta Hawks franchise records for offensive and defensive rebounds, although Bob Pet of the St. Louis Hawks had more total rebounds in the days before statisticians split up the categories.

Willis was traded to Miami in 1994 after two games of his 11th season with the Hawks.

"At that time, in my thinking, it was a bad thing to do because I was so accustomed to the way things were in Atlanta, living here, my teammates," he said. "But God had a better plan. So I followed that plan and it led me to my 21st season, so it was a blessing in disguise."

Willis has adapted to the changes in the game over the past two decades, but that doesn't mean he likes them.

"The focus isn't totally basketball any more," he said. "It's so globalized now. You've got the guys coming in now with the big shoe contracts and the big endorsements and record deals and the jewelry, the tattoos. Whereas, back in the day, none of that was important. It was just about going out and playing basketball, having great love for the game and competing and trying to win championships."

Willis still has fond memories of his previous stint with the Hawks, especially the 1984-86 squads which included Wilkins, Tree Rollins, Randy Wittman and Doc Rivers. "Those two teams and those guys on that team were just incredible guys," Willis said, "lifelong friendships, never to be forgotten."

Now Wilkins wears a business suit and sits in the front office — where Willis hopes to someday wind up. They sometimes joke around after practices. "He's a little bigger than me," Wilkins said, "So I've got to watch how I pull my rank."

[Kori Ellis]

Another former Spur ...

Smith's game isn't about name or fame

SCOTT FOWLER

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlot...ts/9875312.htm

Do you know Steve Smith?

No, not that one.

Did you know he's going to be No. 8?

No, not that one.

Do you realize he was once best-known for being a dazzling, oversized point guard from Michigan State?

No, not that one.

The Charlotte Bobcats' Steve Smith is not to be confused with the Carolina Panthers' Steve Smith. Or with Magic Johnson. Or with Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s famous No. 8.

This Steve Smith is a 35-year-old, good-natured reserve for the Bobcats. He has never met the other Steve Smith -- the electrifying Panthers receiver who will miss most or all of this season because of an injury.

"But I've followed that Steve Smith ever since he got to the NFL," the NBA's Steve Smith said. "I love his name. I'm hoping when I do meet him that I can persuade him to give me a jersey for my kids."

The basketball-playing Steve Smith is very comfortable in his own skin. He knows that the Bobcats' coach, Bernie Bickerstaff, won't play him much this season unless he is forced to.

"Steve's role is not going to be prominent on the court," Bickerstaff said, "but it will be in the locker room."

Smith is all right with that. Smith already has an NBA championship ring from his time with the San Antonio Spurs and a gold medal from his time with the 2000 Olympic team.

He also has his signature hesitation move where he stops, throws his head back over his shoulder like he's going the other way and then starts again.

"It's an absolutely horrible move," said Dell Curry, a former Charlotte Hornets player who now works in the Bobcats' front office. "It's so slow. And it's the first thing on the scouting report for Steve in every locker room. But it has fooled everybody in the NBA at one time or the other who has guarded him, including me."

I first met Smith in 1993, when I had just begun covering the Miami Heat for the Miami Herald newspaper. Smith was one of the team's young stars and already renowned throughout the NBA for his professionalism and his overall sense of decency. (In 2002, Smith would win the NBA's Sportsmanship Award).

What Smith lacked, though, was a nickname. At least I thought so.

With Smith's blessing, I came up with a contest in the Miami newspaper in which we invited nickname submissions from readers. Smith would then use the name, on a trial basis, for at least a few weeks.

The contest was a mixed blessing. Fans loved it. I had to sort through 852 entries. Smith took it seriously, studying the final list like it was his next contract.

"Tricky," Smith finally said. "I like `Tricky.' "

So he tried Steve "Tricky" Smith on for size for awhile. The Miami Heat P.A. man introduced him that way every night for awhile.

"But it didn't really fit me, did it?" Smith said 11 years later. "A good try, but `Tricky' didn't work."

So he became plain old Steve Smith again, a 6-foot-8 point guard who later became a shooting guard and a small forward when he lost a step. Smith has played in Miami, Atlanta, Portland, San Antonio, New Orleans and now Charlotte, lugging his beloved videotape collection of every "Sanford and Son" episode around America.

Smith likes Charlotte in part because he has made his permanent offseason home in Atlanta. His wife and two sons (ages 5 and 2) will come up for most weekends.

Smith has played in 892 games, at least twice as many as any other Bobcats player. He can be a deadly 3-point shooter. His best individual moment, he said, was the time he became one of only three NBA players to make seven 3-pointers in a single quarter.

Smith's career scoring average of 14.7 points per game will drop in Charlotte.

"That's all right," Smith said. "I can still contribute to this team, whether it's in the locker room or on the court."

Said Bickerstaff: "Steve will give us some respect with the referees, I can tell you that."

And if he ends up sitting on the bench for an expansion team and being only the second most well-known pro athlete in Charlotte with the name Steve Smith?

Smith is OK with that, he insisted.

"I've had my day," Smith said. "And I've really enjoyed it."

[timvp]

It's odd that Kevin Willis was such a fan favorite but when he left ... no one seems to have noticed. I haven't heard why the Spurs elected not to re-sign him and instead went after Tony Massenburg. Perhaps it was age or maybe Willis didn't like it that Shaq was destroying Rasho and Horry while he wait on the bench.

Interesting situation.

[exstatic]

LJ - My theory was always that he injured Devin Brown during that locker room horseplay right before the playoffs, and that Pop was not happy about that. He seemed a good veteran leadership fit here, and that is all I can think of.

[xcoriate]

Unfortunately his gone now, I loved his leadership at SA. He was a fan favoritre for a reason. Atlanta will probably use him more though.

[BronxCowboy]

LJ - My theory was always that he injured Devin Brown during that locker room horseplay right before the playoffs, and that Pop was not happy about that. He seemed a good veteran leadership fit here, and that is all I can think of.

Yeah, there had to have been a reason that Pop refused to bring him off the bench during the playoffs. Seemed to me that he was in the doghouse for some reason, even though nobody ever really said so. They really could have used him against the Lakers. In the '03 playoffs, he gaurded Shaq as well as anyone. Maybe there was more to that little "dropping" incident with Brown than was let on.

[ChumpDumper]

I think injuring Devin had a lot to do with it, so all things being equal they just went with Massenburg, gambling that he won't whine about PT.

[T Park]

Or maybe when he came in for a few minutes in game 3.


Missed dunk, beat down the floor by Shaq, pushed out of the way by Shaq.

He didnt play well.


I think massenburg in all reality can give you the same production Willis gave.

[Brodels]

I think massenburg in all reality can give you the same production Willis gave.

Why is everyone so certain that Massenburg is going to make the roster over Marks? How is Marks going to get minutes (as Pop said that he would) if he's on IR?

[InRareForm]

Whats Kevin Willis up to these days?

[boutons_deux]

Whats Kevin Willis up to these days?

try google

http://allball.blogs.nba.com/2013/06...d-walker-line/

https://twitter.com/kevinwillis42

[bigfan]

Good for him, not long on the Spurs but effective.

[GSH]

Whats Kevin Willis up to these days?

He spends his days reviving 12 year-old threads on forums for no ing reason.