News on all your favorite celebs, reality TV, and movies. If youre looking for scale, thats taller than most baby elephants. On December 20, 1970, Cunningham scored 31 points and grabbed a career-high 27 rebounds en route to a 134132 road win over the Portland Trail Blazers. [4], Cunningham signed a threeyear contract on August 5, 1969 to begin play with the American Basketball Association's Carolina Cougars in 197172. In his UNC career, he scored 1,709 points (24.8 points per game), and grabbed 1,062 rebounds (15.4 rebounds per game). Patterson, who recently resigned as Arizona States coach, said that Johnson is really an impact player, but not consistently good and solid. Cunningham reached 200, 300, and 400 wins faster than any previous coach in NBA history. Really, though, hed have to in order to make it look like he belonged there among all the African American bball greats. Finally he did a 360, one handed. Very tall players are seldom recognized as great leapers. The 6-2 product of the Harlem slums could dunk, catch the ball with his opposite hand and dunk it again, all in the same leap. They were like jazz musicians in sneakers. In those days, didnt nobody dunk but Wilt Chamberlain, so Sonny was an absolute marvel.. Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: Sports Figures. 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. "Cunningham, William John ("Billy") So much has been written and said about Julius Erving over the years that i, Allen, Marcus 1960 And Dirk Nowitzki who no doubt has walls plastered top to bottom with awards and achievements. Join us for a March Madness Webinar on Tuesday, March 7 at 8pm ET. Free, Darryl Dawkins and Bobby Jones. 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.. That year, he was the First-Team All-New York Its a feeling of power and freedom Ive never gotten from anything else. of 6. Sure, Casper and friends tend to dominate less vertically challenging sports like golf, hockey, and tennis, but they have also held their own on the floorboards. Jack Gardner, a former college coach, did our testing, Nissalke said. Durant, a four-time scoring champion, now sets his sights on Hakeem Olajuwon in 12th place. Thats a white head, remember. Cade Cunningham has a vertical jump of 41 inches. I also think, in Joeys case, he gets up so high it hurts his shooting technique., Clarke said: When other players were shooting jump shots in their back yards, Joey was practicing dunks.. The players who fly through this thin air are not simply remembered by hoop fans. Billy Cunningham. He averaged 24.1 ppg (fourth best in the league) and 6.3 apg (fifth best), leading the Cougars to a 57-27 record, tops in the ABAs Eastern Division. billy cunningham vertical jump. The breakthrough occurred when Harvey Pollack, the venerable stat whiz of the Philadelphia 76ers, collected dunk data from every team for the entire 1987-88 NBA season, accounting for every last slammeroo. His colourful tattoos and hairstyles are about as famous as his skills too, with hairdos including mohawks, spikes, and shoulder-length shag. Ive heard stories about Jackie Jackson doing it, but Ive never seen anyone (but himself) come close., Sonny Hill, a Philadelphia leaping legend of the 60s, backs Wilt, saying, The only man thats been to the top, thats Wilt. He was about a foot from the top.. The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. Learn more and register. A few of the big-time leapers did make it--Jumpin Johnny Green, Pogo Joe Caldwell and Tommy (the Hawk) Hawkins, who was a Laker rookie when the team moved to Los Angeles in 1960. Manigault, for instance, developed an addiction to heroin, stole to get it, did time in two prisons. When I went to Kansas, they had a 12-foot basket in the gym, because Dr. Phog Allen was advocating the 12-foot basket. 1924- Still, the thrill is not all gone. 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Its like walking on air. But the winning wasnt over. I loved it instantly." We sure are glad he picked basketball! If youve got a good imagination, imagine yourself wearing a baseball cap, and leaping so high, arms at your side, that you flick your head sideways and dunk your cap. Celtics legend Larry Bird might just be the most famous white guy in basketball. People think, mistakenly in most cases, that they could hit a baseball, Costas says. Its almost like you were floating, like there was no such thing as gravity. It didnt make no difference to him.. Not only could he dunk, but he had a serious white boy swagger. Find Billy Cunningham 76ers stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. City, and a member of the Parade Magazine All-America Team. "It's a remarkable life.". Bobby Jones could swoop and soar. We know he was born in New Bern, N.C., grew up (and flew up) in Brooklyn, attended Virginia Union, then played several years for the Harlem Globetrotters and in the old Eastern League. No. All logos are the trademark & property of their owners and not Sports Reference LLC. I loved it instantly.. Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: Sports Figures. "I lived there that summer," he later recalled. Julius, Gus (Johnson), Pogo Joe Caldwell. Griffin has been one of the most electrifying dunkers in the NBA for the past eight years. And some colleges and pro teams were not ready to take chances on what went along with those guys. He inherited a team of underachievers led by Julius Erving. Whats unfortunate is that most people regard the great leapers as being only the short guys who could dunk, said the 7-1 1/16 Chamberlain. He would find a way to beat you., Billy Cunningham discovered the game after receiving a basketball for his fifth birthday. The soaring flight of the great leaper is amazing, even to himself. See, for example, Jan Hubbard, ed., The Official NBA Basketball Encyclopedia, 3d ed. Many of the great leapers of that era inhabited the fringes of reality as we know it. These guys more than held their own in a sport where they were absolutely a minority. He was a No. [CDATA[ Another oft-told legend has Jackie on defense. Jackie took off, jumped over Normans head and dunked the ball.. Every time Gus slam-dunked at home, the recorded sound of a rifle shot would whistle through the arena. He played nine seasons for the Baltimore Bullets, beginning in 63, and he died last year. In 1987, Cunningham replaced Tom Heinsohn as the lead color commentator (alongside play-by-play man Dick Stockton) for CBS' NBA telecasts. Who would he share a wing with? Do you have a blog? 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. Cunningham scored 18.9 points per game. Data Provided By He also became an NBA broadcaster on national television and later a part-owner of the Miami Heat. Athletic Club, has worked with most of the great L.A. prep stars of the last two decades. Lift up an arm and hop once or twice to get a feel for how far away the rim is. Under Cunningham, the team reached the Eastern Conference finals in 1978 and the NBA finals in 1980 and 1982. I got fired up and did a 360 dunk. Small Forward and Power Forward Ill give you an example. In 1969-70, Cunningham averaged a career-best 26.1 points, fourth-highest in the league behind Jerry West, Lew Alcindor (later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and Elvin Hayes. There. One explanation for the reverence accorded the big jumpers is offered by psychologist-sportscaster Bob Costas, who once did play-by-play for the Spirit of St. Louis, a team in the now-defunct American Basketball Assn., where every game was a jam-boree. Weary of the NBA lifestyle, Cunningham retired. There have been--and are--very good white jumpers. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. Watch even half of any of his highlight reels and youll understand why he made this list. By word of mouth, you would get to know who the best dunkers were, and by the end of the season it was pretty much agreed the best two were a Portland guy named Claude English and me. And he made it to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame with a career that reads like a how-to book for legends. No question, the mystique of the superleaper remains. Billy Cunningham. A fabulous collegian and pro player Cunningham shot to stardom when he was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team in 1966. I defy anyone to say they took change off the top of the backboard, Chamberlain said. Hes also not 100% African American, though, which means he doesnt automatically have insane jumping genes. Thunder Dan has more than made friends with the rim and earned his name! Now imagine yourself crouching a bit, like Superman, and springing high into the air. You cant accomplish that feat unless youve got some serious springs in your heels! . It was an effort, but I could do it., There is no documented proof of a man ever taking off from behind the free-throw line, 15 feet from the backboard, and dunking. Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. One day he received a call from Zev Buffman, who needed a well-known basketball personality to help secure an NBA franchise for Miami. Realizing they needed a dominant big man to contain Abdul-Jabbar, Philadelphia acquired the two-time MVP (1979 and 82) Moses Malone from the Houston Rockets (Malone would win a third MVP as a Sixer in that first season in Philadelphia) before the 1982-83 season. Although he had never coached, he was popular in Philadelphia, and his competitiveness, toughness and intelligence seemed right for the job. In 1965, Cunningham joined the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association. Wilt meets me at mid-court and says, Na, na, na, not this time.. Cunningham became a top analyst for CBSs broadcasts of NBA games. So I did a 360, two handed, and he conceded.. 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. Billy Cunningham weighed 210 lbs (95 kg) when playing. Oh my God, Smith recalled thinking. What happens when you put stilts on kangaroo? When I went to Kansas, they had a 12-foot basket in the gym, because Dr. Phog Allen was advocating the 12-foot basket. They took about 10 jumps each. Kareem came the closest. Hes set records for leading the NBA in dunks during his very first year playing pro. It was like, Legend has it that 20 men are buried in Boot Hill because of this guy. Join our linker program. Retrieved February 22, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/cunningham-william-john-billy. 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. Select from premium Billy Cunningham 76ers of the highest quality. Biography. Stand underneath a basketball hoop, a regulation 10-footer. This guys been compared to celebrated center-man Dwight Howard for his max vertical, and to NBA/Olympic legend Oscar Robertson for his triple-doubles. Before his senior year, White happened to work out with some Atlanta Hawks players and they went to coach Richie Guerin with tales of this amazing leaper. This guy that was also selected for the MLB draft, spent time with the Orioles, and pitched an impressive 96 mph. That swagger had to come from somewhere. Contending that the Cougars had reneged on paying the remaining $80,000 of a $125,000 signing bonus due on May 15, 1970, he reversed himself and signed a fouryear, $950,000 contract extension to stay with the 76ers through 197475 on July 15, 1970. His show was not heard during the summer months, when WLW broadcasts Cincinnati Reds baseball games. Unlike Thompson, a huge star at North Carolina State, Dr. J kind of sneaked up on the basketball world. Until recently, nobody ever tried to keep track of dunks on any league-wide scale. He spent several years as one of the owners of the Miami Heat and the team quickly became a contender. Blonde hair. Joey made the trip but was nursing a hip pointer, so he couldnt suit up. . Cunningham would never play again. The following season, the Sixers finished behind Boston in the standings and were upset by the New Jersey Nets in the first round. One expert, Mitch Kupchak, the Lakers assistant general manager, was asked to name the games bona fide super leapers. Not a great deal is known about Jackie, which is good, because nothing dims a legend faster than facts. Nobody ever played the game could rise any better than Jackie. Cunningham played with visible enthusiasm. Somebody done gotcha. But man, that was sweet music. Technicalities, you know. Connie Hawkins, another of the elite leapers of that era, was blackballed from the NBA because of involvement with gamblers when he was in college. Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Saturday, March 4, 4:50AM. Cunningham then went to the University of North Carolina, where he excelled. Geraldo Rivera is standing by. The University of North Carolina (UNC) coach Frank McGuire convinced Cunningham to enroll there. Anybodv can win the lottery.. He played 80 games, primarily as a sixth man, while averaging 14.3 points and 7.5 rebounds a game. Not too shabby at all, right? Billy Cunningham was born in the Parkville section of Brooklyn, New York. 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. Known as "The Kangaroo Kid," Billy Cunningham was a high-flying scorer who won an NBA title as a player and coach with the 76ers. We present them here for purely educational purposes. Could this be Gods way of telling us its time to raise the hoop? We Have Fusion Energy! High School and became known as the Kangaroo Kid for his impressive jumping ability. How in the world can this kid play ball? According to a warrant for Morrow's arrest, he's facing charges of assault by strangulation, second-degree kidnapping and communicating threats. 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. Professional basketball player He got kudos for his smooth-sounding, incisive work with the play-by-play announcer Dick Stockton. Some may say that getting off the ground quickly is more important than how much height you get, but its a safe bet that these same people cant match Alexanders pre-draft 38.5 inch max vertical. Instead he went to Georgia as a white player and was a so-so power forward. Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. Billy Cunningham played fiercely, coached intensely, and won frequently. Billy Cunningham was inducted to the Hall of Fame as a Player in 1986 (Full List) Billy Cunningham wasnt nicknamed the Kangaroo Kid because he had a pouch. Left, Born: Cunningham attended Erasmus Hall Actually he was a 62% free throw shooter, which is poor except in comparison to his 51% as a pro. After playing for Philadelphia from 1965 to 1972, he signed a free agent contract with the ABA's . . "In a way the injury made things easy for me," he said later. The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. White, also known as the Elevator from Decatur, made the NBA all-time all-warmup team that one season. Professional basketball player, sports administrator He said he was tired and tight. One dunking dinosaur who could fly and play was Gus Johnson, a 6-6 hipster-forward who had a gold star implanted in a front tooth. The following is a list of the NBA's All-Time Top 50 Team: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Nate Archibald, Paul Arizin, Charles Barkley, Rick Barry, Elgin Baylor, Dave Bing, Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, Bob Cousy, Dave Cowens, Billy Cunningham, Dave DeBusschere . On a good day, he said. But he was over by a good six to eight inches. At Southern Idaho, the legend grew. . Cunningham arrived in Chapel Hill just as Dean Smith was taking over as the head basketball coach of the UNC Tar Heels. Thompson, as a consolation prize, won the MVP award in the All-Star game itself. The ONLY white man. As if this wasnt impressive enough, it was during a practice with the LA Lakers about a month after the Combine that he flew up 46 inches, creating a new pre-draft record. star and now the leagues vice president of operations. Dont try a big leap. They are enshrined in a mythical Museum of Leap. Ridiculous, but it has been done, by a kid youve probably never heard of, unless you started reading this story at the end. It looked like the half-court line was around a mile and a half away, Cunningham said. After the 19711972 season, Cunningham left Philadelphia and the NBA for the rival American Basketball Association (ABA), signing on with the (North) Carolina Cougars. Posted by; Date June 12, 2022; Comments . In the 19691970 season he averaged a career high of 26.1 points, the fourth highest in the league, and was again selected as an All-Star. Cunningham achieved a career trifecta in law, business, and government. In 1974 Cunningham returned to the 76ers. Yep. Chamberlain couldnt remember the players name, but Rod Thorn did. Most of these leapers are black, and in the late 50s and early 60s, the NBA still had unofficial quotas, and only eight or nine teams. He succeeded Gene Shue as head coach of the 24 76ers on November 4, 1977. He was named Most Valuable Player in the ABA. 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. He was called the Kangaroo Kid for his prodigious leaping ability. Professional football player In the JC championship game, an opponent fired a jump shot at the buzzer. Cunningham again led the team in scoring in 1970-71, ranking ninth in the NBA with 23.0 ppg. Why not simply whip out a tape measure and measure the leapers leaps, take the guesswork out of whos the greatest? And after all, The sun even shines on a dog's a** some days. We played Portland in the last game of the season. At halftime of one Southern Idaho game, Joey was pursuaded to give a brief high-jump demonstration. Against Tulane University on 10 December 1964, he set a UNC record by scoring forty-eight points. A lot of them, you have to understand, werent able to get into college, Chamberlain said. Hes sought advice from Tim Duncan on how to be a great leader and win with his team. The Kangaroo Kid, Kang, Billy C are nicknames for Billy Cunningham. In the 2005 NBA pre-draft camp he gained 34.5 inches of air. Encyclopedia.com. Billy Cunningham is an American former professional basketball player and coach, who was nicknamed the Kangaroo Kid. Then he enters into the [NBA] expansion pursuit and gets it. He was with the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers for 17 years . The Grizzlies say their star guard will be away from the team for 'at least' the next 2 games. home/away, monthly, etc More Billy Cunningham Basketball Reference pages, Compare Billy Cunningham to other players. Cunningham was subsequently replaced on CBS by Hubie Brown, but would return to CBS to help fill in during the 1990 NBA Playoffs, partnered with Verne Lundquist. Dennis never was much of a leaper. He once grabbed a record 27 rebounds in a game vs. Clemson on February 16, 1963. Okay, so LaVine is technically not 100% Caucasian. These are professional men: Dr. J, Dr. Dunkenstein, Dr. Jam. Dean Smith, the new coach at the University of North Carolina, was not as impressed, at least not immediately. That's because like many players expected to be picked very high in the draft, they do not attend the Draft Combine or its measurements. I see kids in the eighth grade, kids 5-11, dunking behind their heads, said Rod Thorn, former National Basketball Assn. 2019Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. The team finished 42-40 and was bounced in the first round of the playoffs by the Milwaukee Bucks. The difference between the two marks, in inches, is the players sergeant jump, as in, Joe Smith has a 29-inch sergeant.. So maybe his African American genes are a little stronger than his Caucasian ones after all? It's a move in which a player drives past a defender by stepping one way and then quickly taking a big lateral step in the other direction, and its become pretty popular. Also, his dunk on Dwight Howard during the 2008 Olympic finals was unreal. Note that this is not the official NBA measurement. In 1997 Cunningham became the expert commentator for the CBS television network's coverage of NBA games. He inherited a team of underachievers led by Julius Erving. These are two very, very different kinds of feathered friends. It was so good that Cunningham, a future Hall of Famer, came off the bench. In the twentieth game of the 19751976 season, Cunningham's career suddenly and inexplicably ended. us, High School: He had tested thousands of Navy pilots during the war, and he said Griffiths was the highest he ever measured.. . It was legendary, however, and cemented young Majerle as one of the best white dunkers of all time. 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. Billy Cunningham was a standout scorer for the Philadelphia 76ers. He had a baseball cap on, and he turned the bill sideways. The following season, with the ABAs future in jeopardy, Cunningham returned to the 76ers. Youre just up there and nobody else can get up there., David (Skywalker) Thompson said: Sometimes Id surprise myself. They couldnt, of course, because those things are so much harder than they look. Thats about half the height of Michael Jordan. The Doc won it with a long run, a leap from two inches inside the free throw line and a dramatic, powerful windmill slam. That Sixers team has since been hailed as the greatest ever assembled. Then an All-Star. Encyclopedia.com. Wed been on the bus eight hours by then, Trenkle said. > Archive 75: Billy Cunningham| 75 Stories: Billy Cunningham. In his first ABA season, Cunningham averaged 24.1 points per game, 12.0 rebounds per game, and led the league in total steals. It was so much air that it tied young Pat for the spot of second-highest vertical leap recorded up to that point. The ABA wasnt about dignity, it was about style. All rights reserved. Its even been called hellicious.. I went back a few hours later with a tape measure. Jones, a noted defensive terror. 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. His daddy was also a professional ball player, which means his skill and confidence are ate least somewhat genetic. Curtis Bunn, a 6-1 reporter for Newsday, has a very decent repertoire of slams. Judging by a still shot the DukeMBB videographer took during the testing, Williamson cleared a vertical leap mark of 40 inches. He walked into the gym one morning and there was a TV crew set up. Browse 310 billy_cunningham stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. White started five games, but was mostly a mop-up guy, then was injured and finished his career in a pro league in Mexico. Now an NBA journeyman, Dawkins came into the NBA in 1975, straight out of high school, billed as the center of the future. VIDEO: Giant Space Slingshot In Action. But who has seen him? . Hawkins is now vice president of communications for the Dodgers. Its unbelievable. He played circles around a guy named Robert Cousy. For his college career he averaged 24.8 points per game and set a school record with 1,062 rebounds. [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]. The Philadelphia 76ers star was a consistent scorer throughout his heyday in the 1960s and '70s. Averaging 14.3 points per game, Cunningham was named to the league's All-Rookie team. Some nights, when your legs were really there and you had total command, you felt nobody was going to get any higher than you were. Boston kept Philadelphia out of The 1981 Finals, but the Sixers roared back to the 1982 before falling to the Lakers again. He was twice named an All-American during his collegiate years. His show is on the air from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. What type of shoes did Billy Cunningham wear? Ginoblili is 39 years old and recently won a jump ball against the 22-year-old Nerlens Noel, who has a good five inches on the Argentinian-Italian. It's also available for football, hockey and baseball. Billy Cunningham was born in Brooklyn, New York. I was a good free throw shooter in college.. 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. Herb was not drafted, but was invited to Hawks camp after his senior year and made the 1970-71 team as a point-guard backup and road roommate of another rookie, Pete Maravich. snoop dogg zodiac chart New Lab; kaplan children's furniture; is there quicksand in georgia; Despite his Caucasian genetic setbacks, he shot up an unbelievable 41.5 inches at the NBA Draft Combine in 2014.