His departure had a disastrous effect on the 76ers, who posted a 9-73 record in 1972-73, the worst mark in NBA history. As a child he wa, https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/cunningham-william-john-billy. A commitment to the basic fundamentals of any game lead to progress, growth, and success. The only other thing in life I couldnt comprehend was looking at the moon and knowing there were men walking on it.. Almost always the feat involves money--claims that the player could grab a dollar bill off the top of the board, or could pluck off a quarter and leave two dimes and a nickel change. Many of the great leapers of that era inhabited the fringes of reality as we know it. ! Small Forward and Power Forward Wilt mentioned a few names, then said, You know, there was a white boy who played for Atlanta around 1970. Ive got the videotape to prove it., Karl Kleinkopf, who coached the Southern Idaho track team for nine years, said: Theres absolutely no doubt Joey could be an eight-foot high jumper by 1992. And the problem these days is inflation. The 76ers lost to the Lakers in 1980 and 1982, but after acquiring Moses Malone, they finally got past the Lakers in 1983, winning the franchise's third (and most recent) NBA Championship as part of a 121 playoff run. Find Billy Cunningham 76ers stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. Billy Cunningham was a standout scorer for the Philadelphia 76ers. But while Cunningham was reaching his peak, the 76ers were beginning to crumble. His show was not heard during the summer months, when WLW broadcasts Cincinnati Reds baseball games. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame :: Billy Cunningham Part of Dr. Js legend is the same as the mystique of a gunfighter coming into town, Costas said. Basketball Player Billy Cunningham's Net Worth, Wife, and Bio [6] He announced on June 15, 1972, that he was going to play with the Cougars beginning with the upcoming season at press conferences in Charlotte and Greensboro, North Carolina which occurred almost simultaneous to the Sixers' introduction of Roy Rubin as its new head coach.[7]. Wilt Chamberlain claims that his sergeant, during his prime, was 46 to 48 inches, easy. Of course, Wilt also claims he once averaged 50 points for an entire NBA season, so his credibility is suspect. (AP Photo/Rusty Kennedy) Cunningham, her stepdaughter and her fiance all jumped into action. Pregame warmups were his showtime. Cunningham led the league in steals with 216 and was fourth in scoring with a 24.1 points-per-game average. Technicalities, you know. But with a leaper, everybody instantly knows they couldnt do it, that only the tiniest fraction of humans can jump that high.. billy cunningham vertical jump - epcorcentre.org Bill Cunningham - 700WLW Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. He also had a famously difficult childhood and came from very humble beginnings; it was his hometown of French Lick, Indiana, that inspired the nickname The Hick from French Lick. He was determined not to let his tiny hometown or his troubled family life hold him back though, and instead remained hardworking and classy until the end of his career. Philadelphia won 62 games the next season, but the Celtics upset the 76ers in the playoffs. Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Saturday, March 4, 4:50AM. Current Grand Canyon Antelopes coach and the Phoenix Suns favourite former shooting guard/small forward is an NBA All Star, an Olympian, and World Team member. Earl Manigault was another fabulous flyer off the Eastern blacktop in the late 50s and early 60s. He was an incredible shot blocker. His teams won sixty-six play-off games and lost twenty-nine. When Dominique (the Human Highlight Film) Wilkins was in college, a 5-9 laundry man named Leroy Nowells would saunter into the Georgia gym and match slams with Wilkins. That year, he was the First-Team All-New York No discussion of legendary leapers is complete without heated debate. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Since his slamming days in the NBA, hes continued with the sport as a scout, director, analyst, commentator, and even vice president of player personnel. He said he was afraid he would cut himself. The University of North Carolina (UNC) coach Frank McGuire convinced Cunningham to enroll there. Or write about sports? There are celebrity dunk-offs. The next season, Philly plummeted to 30-52 and missed the postseason and Cunningham (23.3 ppg, 12.2 rpg) was in the last of his four All-Star years. Mike Conley, who is 6-2 and a triple jumper, won the Foot Locker Slam Dunk Contest last weekend, with 6-2 Raider receiver Tim Brown finishing third and swimmer Matt Biondi in the top five. Thats about the height of the average 4-year-old. In 1974 Cunningham returned to the 76ers. Nope. Really, though, hed have to in order to make it look like he belonged there among all the African American bball greats. In his first ABA season, Cunningham averaged 24.1 points per game, 12.0 rebounds per game, and led the league in total steals. Thats the outer space were dealing with today, the sky above the hoop, the rare air inhabited by only a select group of humans, the legendary leapers. Midway through the previous season the club had acquired Wilt Chamberlain from the San Francisco Warriors, and in his first full campaign with the Sixers, he helped them to the Eastern Division title. If accurate, that would have put him as the 10th-highest max vertical leaper (not standing, but with a short running start) in the NBA Draft, just behind Grayson Allen's number of 40.5 inches. It's like walking on air. In the exhibition season he was assigned to bring the ball up the court against Bostons K.C. . Kareem came the closest. The next season, the consistent Cunningham scored 23.3 points per game and was selected as an All-Star for the fourth time. Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. In 1996 he was voted one of the top fifty players at the NBA's fiftieth anniversary. These are professional men: Dr. J, Dr. Dunkenstein, Dr. Jam. Cunningham would later rejoin the CBS broadcast team starting with the 198586 season, again often paired with Musburger, covering both the NBA as well as NCAA men's college basketball for the network. The ABA folded after that season, but the slam-off was such a hit with the media that the concept was eventually ripped off by the NBA. So he tried it again, grabbed the nail and bent it straight down. Last season, there were 5,757 NBA dunks by 246 players. Therefore, its best to use Encyclopedia.com citations as a starting point before checking the style against your school or publications requirements and the most-recent information available at these sites: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html. Gus once said, When I dunked that ball and heard that shot for the first time, I said to myself, Oh, oh, Gus. inBrooklyn,New York There have been--and are--very good white jumpers. Has Joey Johnson simply outleaped the game of basketball? When Cunningham got off the bus in Chapel Hill in the fall of 1961, he was all skin and bones, a freckle-faced redhead with a clumsy, pigeon-toed gait. Averaging 14.3 points per game, Cunningham was named to the league's All-Rookie team. Home Depot Is Selling A Giant 89-Pound Crab Statue For $1,500. Now thats something to brag about at Sunday family dinners. I made a left turn at the baseline, flew under the basket to the other side, put it through his arms, and dunked it with two hands over my head. Imagine yourself lifting off the blacktop, up and up, until you can reach into the air far above the rim. One boy did dunks of a monster nature, so they named him after the only monster they knew that could fly--Rodan. These men have their own ancient orders, such as Phi Slama Jama, the mythical fraternity created during the 1982-83 college season by Houston scribe Thomas Bonk, now a Times writer, to honor the dunk-happy University of Houston Cougars. "It's a remarkable life.". "The beauty part of playing basketball," he once said, "is that your mind is occupied with playing basketball and nothing else, and you're having fun.". Marcus Allen was born on March 26, 1960, to Harold and Gwen Allen in San Diego, CA. Moral of this story: dont count the white guys out of this sport just yet. Oh my God, Smith recalled thinking. One expert, Mitch Kupchak, the Lakers assistant general manager, was asked to name the games bona fide super leapers. In 1987, Cunningham replaced Tom Heinsohn as the lead color commentator (alongside play-by-play man Dick Stockton) for CBS' NBA telecasts. See, for example, Jan Hubbard, ed., The Official NBA Basketball Encyclopedia, 3d ed. They asked him to show how high he could jump, so with no warmup of any kind, in his school clothes, Joey stood there, jumped up and put his chin on the rim. NBA.com is part of Warner Media, LLCs Turner Sports & Entertainment Digital Network, *Translations are limited to select pages, NBA Legends: Profiling the league's greats, Brooks suspended after receiving 16th technical foul, Grizzlies' Clarke (torn achilles) out indefinitely, Ja will be away from team for 'at least' 2 games, Ex-NBA player Morrow facing assault charges, Durant passes 'Big O' for 13th in career points, NBA Fantasy: Under-the-radar additions for playoffs. Tom Nissalke, an assistant coach at Milwaukee when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar came into the league, and later head coach of the Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets, says he always had his players measured, and the best sergeant he ever saw was a 35, by Darrell Griffith as a rookie. Posted by; Date June 12, 2022; Comments . Joey, standing about eight feet from the shooter, leaped and slapped the shot away. He recorded 14 triple doubles in the NBA and 5 in the ABA, good for 43rd all-time in the NBA and 5th in the ABA. In his basketball uniform and shoes, with a short, unmeasured run-up, he soared over seven feet. During the post-season, the Cougars defeated the New York Nets in five games in the Eastern Division Semifinals to advance to the Eastern Division Finals. He was about a foot from the top.. Jump to: Overview (3) | Mini Bio (1) | Family (1) Overview (3) Born: June 3, 1943 in New York, USA: Birth Name: William John Cunningham: Height: 6' 7" (2.01 m) Mini Bio (1) William John "Billy" Cunningham was born on June 3, 1943. Professional basketball player Then an All-Star. In The Finals, however, Abdul-Jabbar, Earvin Magic Johnson, Jamaal Wilkes and the Lakers were too much. We should be glad he doesnt demand his own useum. June 12, 2022 . He was an NBA champion both as a player (1967) and as a coach (1983). Theyve run like the wind, ducked like a water fowl, flown like jet planes, and scored more points than Cassanova in a disco. Billy Cunningham tells broadcaster John Andariese about his early success with the 76ers. Boston kept Philadelphia out of The 1981 Finals, but the Sixers roared back to the 1982 before falling to the Lakers again. Cunningham achieved a career trifecta in law, business, and government. You get it. There are two other pure measurements of leap--the dunk and the top of the money exchange. High Griffinition Blake joined the Oklahoma Sooners and became one of their most impressive players of all time. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. A person who is a poor leaper is said to have white mans disease. White guys use the expression, black guys use it, mostly in a spirit of good fun. He holds the second-best regular-season winning percentage in league history of .698 (only Phil Jackson is ahead of him). I was phoning the Charlotte Hornets to reach David (Skywalker) Thompson, who now works in the teams front office, when a female secretary said: Ive only seen two players who did things that I watched and I didnt believe--David, and Michael Jordan. William John Cunningham (born June 3, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player and coach, who was nicknamed the Kangaroo Kid for his leaping and record-setting rebounding abilities. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. When you think about Billys life, it is amazing, former Philadelphia 76er executive and then-Orlando Magic senior executive vice president Pat Williams told New Miami magazine in 1992. He walked into the gym one morning and there was a TV crew set up. Shoots: He was a role player on the 1967 title team in . College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com, Scores from any date in BAA/NBA or ABA history, Frequently Asked Questions about the NBA, WNBA and Basketball, Basketball-Reference.com Blog and Articles, Subscribe to Stathead Basketball: Get your first month FREE. Officially, his nickname originated from a 2002 summer league in Salt Lake City, where other players commented on his jumps and grabs, saying he could fly like a bird. Dont get him confused with Larry Bird though. My perception is, with players that rely on their jumping ability, they reach a certain level of competition where their fundamental skills have to kick in, they have to become a basketball player, he said. Billy Cunningham - IMDb "I don't know anything he has done that hasn't worked," said the Orlando, Florida, executive Pat Williams. CUNNINGHAM, William John ("Billy") ( b. After this historic 2015 event, Twitter lit up with the hashtag #WhiteMenCanJump (the up in lit up is so well placed, right?). I cant put my finger on it exactly, but there was just something about the game. Chamberlain couldnt remember the players name, but Rod Thorn did. Billy Cunningham wasnt nicknamed the Kangaroo Kid because he had a pouch. An American-Israeli boy who was actually born in Taiwan, this dude was THIS CLOSE to entering the Slam Dunk competition in 2009, but was passed over for the Portland Trail Blazers Rudy Fernandez. The single-game high was eight, by Drexler, against the Lakers. At six feet, seven inches tall and 220 pounds, Cunningham was a consistent scorer and fierce rebounder. This guy couldshoot AND dunk. Daughter of NBA Hall of Famer Billy Cunningham jumps into action during Cunningham then went to the University of North Carolina, where he excelled. Julius, Gus (Johnson), Pogo Joe Caldwell. The 1996 dunk competition boasted great ballers like the 76ers Jerry Stackhouse and the Suns Michael Finley, and nobody really expected the Lakers guard to triumph. He was All-ACC, the ACC Player of the Year, and an All-American in college, later named to the ACC 50th Anniversary men's basketball team honoring the fifty best players in Atlantic Coast Conference history. In our museum of hoop flight, there is a special wing for the charter members, the dinosaurs of dunk. For his eleven-year career, Cunningham averaged 21.2 points per game. Upon graduation, his 1,062 rebounds were the best in North Carolina history and he held single-season records for most rebounds (379 in 1964) and rebound average (16.1 in 1963). I dont believe anyone has ever done it. Gus was a colorful thunder dunker and a breaker of backboards. In Game 2 of the 1967 NBA Finals, Cunningham scored 28 points during a 126-95 win over the San Francisco Warriors.[3]. Someone would put a quarter up and Id snatch it down. No man, I dont believe, has been up that far., With Chamberlain over 50--years of age, not points per game--Nissalke feels safe in saying, That would be the ultimate challenge: Bet any amount of money, and you wouldnt find anyone who could come close to the top of the board.. These guys more than held their own in a sport where they were absolutely a minority. Unique lists featuring pop culture, entertainment and crazy facts. His list of honors continued in 1986 when he was elected to the Hall of Fame, in 1990 when he was one of the 10 initial inductees to the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame and in 1996, he was named to the NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time Team. I asked Kareem if he ever did, and he could jump a little bit. [10] In October 2021, he was also named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.[11]. [4], Cunningham signed a threeyear contract on August 5, 1969 to begin play with the American Basketball Association's Carolina Cougars in 197172. As a professional he was selected to the NBA All-Rookie First Team, an NBA All-Star, All-NBA First and Second Team, an ABA All-Star, All-ABA First Team, and the ABA Most Valuable Player. Thompson, as a consolation prize, won the MVP award in the All-Star game itself. [1] His first regular show on the station was at night, generally from 9:00 p.m. until midnight. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? He played nine seasons for the Baltimore Bullets, beginning in 63, and he died last year. And the man has pulled out some pretty crazy surprise dunks.
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