Classic card of the week

Kevin Willis, 1992-93 Stadium Club

Kevin Willis is arguably the last link to those legendary Atlanta Hawks teams that were pretty good, but not really. It is impossible to think of the late 80’s/early 90’s Atlanta Hawks without immediately seeing a visual image of Kevin Willis in the background of a Dominique Wilkins poster. Or, possibly, you see this very image instead. Or, even more unlikely, you rarely think about the late 80’s/early 90’s Atlanta Hawks, in which case you can go to hell.

Kevin Willis was famous for his humongous biceps, which were on par with those of David Robinson. In fact, the only difference between the two men was that David Robinson had a small face, and Kevin Willis had a huge face. And they played for different teams. And David Robinson scored more than seven points per game.

But Kevin Willis could rebound his face off! So to speak. For statistical proof, let’s check the back of the card:

Remarkable rebounding season, finishing 2nd in NBA…Had as many as 33 boards in one game…

"As many as?" Not sure why that is there, but 33 rebounds in one game has to be some sort of Hawks’ record. Even more amazing was that all 33 boards came off of missed Kevin Willis shots. In addition, the famed “Sporting News Skills Rating System” clocks Kevin Willis’ “Intimidation” factor at a 4.5. This means two very important things: 1) I sure as balls never want to see a 4.6, and 2) intimidation is, in fact, a skill. So there.

Kevin Willis also perfected the “triple-threat” position, as evidenced by this photo. With this particular pose Kevin Willis could a) throw a chest pass to Dominique Wilkins, b) crush the basketball with his bare hands, or c) dribble through his legs as many as 33 times. If you cannot put yourself in a position to do all of these three things, then you might as well not play basketball. Any coach will tell you that.

But you may be saying to yourself, “This Kevin Willis card is okaaaay, but I’d sure love to see a different Kevin Willis basketball card.” Well then, today is your lucky day, because this particular set of Stadium Club cards included a picture of another basketball card on the back (as evidenced by this), because that is what the people wanted, apparently. So please, enjoy!


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Did you know?
Uh oh. I found a 4.6.