Billy McKinney

One collector is trying to find a single signature from every man who ever played for the Jazz — all 370 of them, from the 1974 New Orleans team to today. For many of them, this page is the only one on the internet. Here is Billy McKinney: what he did on the floor, a few things most people never knew, and every card that carries his name. If you own something he signed — or you know who might — there is a note at the foot of this page.

Quickness earned him the nickname The Crazed Hummingbird. The 6-foot guard from Zion, Illinois left Northwestern as its all-time leading scorer, a record that stood for 35 years, and played in the NBA from 1978 to 1986 for the Kings, Jazz, Nuggets, Clippers, and Bulls, averaging 8.0 points. His Utah stop came in 1980-81.

Few players built a longer second career. McKinney worked front-office jobs for the Bulls, Timberwolves, Pistons, SuperSonics, Storm, and Bucks, and called games on radio for Minnesota. In April 2019 his hometown elected him mayor of Zion, and in 2024 Northwestern retired his No. 30.

HOW HE CAME & WENTUtah traded two second-round picks to Dallas for him on September 11, 1980, and traded him on to Denver for Carl Nicks that December.

Full name

William Mervin McKinney III

Utah Jazz tenure

1980–81

Position

Guard

Born

1955, Waukegan, Illinois

Height

6′0″ (183 cm)

Weight

161 lb (73 kg)

College

Northwestern

Drafted

1977, 6th round (No. 115), Phoenix