Cunningham was a member of the powerful 1967 Sixers championship team, which also featured Wilt Chamberlain, Hal Greer, Chet Walker, and Luke Jackson. American basketball player Keith had a 32. He was all but unknown at the University of Massachusetts, then played five seasons in the semi-secret ABA. . billy cunningham vertical jump. Throughout his life, Cunningham excelled at all aspects of the game he loved. Mitch Kupchak witnessed a similar jump-off among 6-4 David Thompson, 6-9 Marvin Barnes and 7-4 Tom Burleson. 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. After the 197374 season, Cunningham returned to the 76ers, where he played until torn knee cartilage and ligaments ended his career as an active player early in the 197576 season. 22 Feb. 2023 . 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. Note, this is done in an automated way, so we apologize for any errors, & please. White started five games, but was mostly a mop-up guy, then was injured and finished his career in a pro league in Mexico. Cunningham, though, tore up the ABA. 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 the exhibition season he was assigned to bring the ball up the court against Bostons K.C. There was a Philadelphia boy, Sonny Hill, about 5-10 (actually 5-9), he was the first guy that size I ever saw dunk. It takes a lot more to get people excited now, said Chris Wallace, editor of the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook. The white guys listed below are heroes of the basketball world. David came the closest, Kupchak said. Before the game, English and I went back and forth. Cunningham reached 200, 300, and 400 wins faster than any previous coach in NBA history. They think they could track down what the announcer calls a routine fly ball. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. You get it. The Cougars' attempt to file an injunction against him was denied in United States District Court on September 24, 1971. It was legendary, however, and cemented young Majerle as one of the best white dunkers of all time. In warmups, we would always check out the other team and get into little contests with their guys. Now, as radio's "Voice of the Common Man," Bill merges all his knowledge, along with his distinguished guests to enrich the minds of his loyal and participative audience. Professional basketball player He led Philadelphia to the playoffs in every year as coach, and advanced to the NBA Finals 3 times, in the 197980, 198182 and 198283 seasons. Cunningham left CBS Sports the following season to join the Miami Heat expansion franchise as a minority owner; he ultimately sold his interest of the Heat on August 12, 1994. I used to dunk on that basket. Chess Robot Grabs And Breaks Finger Of Seven-Year . And that performance in Denver was the national coming-out party for Dr. J, the godfather of dunk. In his first ABA season, Cunningham averaged 24.1 points per game, 12.0 rebounds per game, and led the league in total steals. Cunningham could not even crack the starting lineupwhich included Wilt Chamberlain, Chet Walker, Lucious Jackson, Hal Greer, and Wally Jonesbut he averaged 18.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game coming off the bench. As a child he wa, https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/cunningham-william-john-billy. His masterpiece was a backboard shattering dunk over Kansas City forward Bill Robinzine. When I was a freshman, I fooled around with shooting free throws this way: For some reason, I thought you had to stay within the top half of that free-throw circle, so I would step back to just inside the top of the circle, take off from behind the line and dunk. Last season, there were 5,757 NBA dunks by 246 players. It was the Human Highlight Film vs. a Selected Short. In a 14-year professional career studded with superla-tives, Wilt Chamberlain established the, Mikan, George inBrooklyn,New York the official stats partner of the NBA, NHL and MLB. In a way the injury made things easy for me, he added. Soon Greer would be alone. Dawkins claimed to have come from the planet Lovetron, he called himself Chocolate Thunder and Zandokan the Mad Dunker, and he named his dunks. 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 was elected to the Hall of Fame the following year. David Robinson, future NBA Hall-of-Famer and leader of the San Antonio Spurs, was born in Key We, Chamberlain, Wilt And after all, The sun even shines on a dog's a** some days. Learn more and register, College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com Blog and Articles. Its a remarkable life.. He holds the second-best regular-season winning percentage in league history of .698 (only Phil Jackson is ahead of him). Airy, Maryland. He spent a total of 17 seasons with the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers (nine as player, eight as coach), and two seasons as a player with the Carolina Cougars of the ABA. Cunningham again led the team in scoring in 1970-71, ranking ninth in the NBA with 23.0 ppg. He was in the gym in Mesa one afternoon, in street clothes and basketball shoes. Shoots: Join us for a March Madness Webinar on Tuesday, March 7 at 8pm ET. He got kudos for his smooth-sounding, incisive work with the play-by-play announcer Dick Stockton. And the man has pulled out some pretty crazy surprise dunks. Player stats broken down into various categories; i.e. Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. Latrell Sprewell, a rising NBA star, would be known more for his off-court antics than his bas, Erving, Julius 1950 Philadelphia switched Cunningham to small forward, a position that allowed him to use his tenacity and jumping ability around the boards. Well find out next season. In Madison Square Garden, he got a standing ovation for his warmup dunks. Javascript is required for the selection of a player. He became a three-time NBA champion, three-time MVP, two-time Finals MVP, 12-time All-Star, All-Star Game MVP, NBA Rookie of the Year, three-time Three-Point Shootout Champion, and two-time member of the 50-40-90 club. Billy Cunningham, Actor: You've Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You'll Lose That Beat. "Cunningham, William John ("Billy") window.__mirage2 = {petok:"ZbxZ3AJWWjyZL0HXDpABwVdW.7p3rtLrWMEsK2FPL0A-86400-0"}; The following season Philadelphia won sixty-two games and the Eastern Division title but lost to the Celtics in the playoffs. As a sophomore, with as little work, he improved to 7-5 7/8. The man waits and waits for Jackie to start coming down, but waits too long. He told me, Sonny, no. . The mystery leaper was--and is--Herb White, 6-foot-2, eyes of blue, from Decatur, Ga. As with most leaping legends, Herbs aerial reputation often preceded him. During his playing career, he was a 4-time All-Star and 3-time All-NBA First Team selection. If that's not impressive enough for you, he also played on two NBA championship teams and later coached the Philadelphia 76ers for eight seasons. In our museum of hoop flight, there is a special wing for the charter members, the dinosaurs of dunk. 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. We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. In addition to the MLA, Chicago, and APA styles, your school, university, publication, or institution may have its own requirements for citations. And Dirk Nowitzki who no doubt has walls plastered top to bottom with awards and achievements. Cunningham has been on 50,000-watt radio station 700 WLW for over 30 years, beginning in 1983. Skywalker, Helicopter, Elevator, Clyde the Glide, Air Jordan, the Hawk, Rodan, Pogo Joe, Honeycomb, Sidecar, the Big Dipper, the Human Highlight Film, Sky King, Kangaroo Kid. He was a consummate team player, and he used the same unifying concept and enthusiasm to become a successful head coach. So goes the popular assumption. All logos are the trademark & property of their owners and not Sports Reference LLC. 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. Philadelphia fans showed surprisingly little bitterness toward Cunningham, who rewarded them with 19.5 ppg in 1974-75. Upload media Wikipedia. // Archive 75: Billy Cunningham| 75 Stories: Billy Cunningham. Join our linker program. ." In fact, he made so much of an impact that his NBA departure in 2012 made heads spin, and rumours that he might return to the US last year were eagerly believed. June 3, We present them here for purely educational purposes. Joe Vanilla Sky Alexander has restless, jumpy feet that propel him way up to block shots and confound his opponents. Clutch West, with his awe-inspiring 60-foot shot in the 1970 NBA Final. Cunningham led the league in steals with 216 and was fourth in scoring with a 24.1 points-per-game average. Still, the Sixers finished 34-48, only the second losing season of Cunninghams career. Thats about the height of the average 4-year-old. 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 . Joey? The following season, with the ABAs future in jeopardy, Cunningham returned to the 76ers. I loved it instantly." 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.

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