Billy Cunningham is an American former professional basketball player and coach, who was nicknamed the Kangaroo Kid. Hes one of only a handful of white guys to even make it to the Slam Dunk Competition, and hes rumoured to have reached a vertical jump of 39 inches. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? The Kangaroo Kid, Kang, Billy C are nicknames for Billy Cunningham. Judging by a still shot the DukeMBB videographer took during the testing, Williamson cleared a vertical leap mark of 40 inches. His jersey number "32" was later retired by Philadelphia. Still, the Sixers finished 34-48, only the second losing season of Cunninghams career. In Game 2 of the 1967 NBA Finals, Cunningham scored 28 points during a 126-95 win over the San Francisco Warriors.[3]. The man waits and waits for Jackie to start coming down, but waits too long. Cunningham had just snared a defensive rebound and was dribbling to the Sixers free-throw line when, as he later recounted, his knee just exploded. No one had touched him, although Alfred Butch Beard was given a foul on the play. In The Finals, however, Abdul-Jabbar, Earvin Magic Johnson, Jamaal Wilkes and the Lakers were too much. > Archive 75: Billy Cunningham| 75 Stories: Billy Cunningham. His departure had a disastrous effect on the 76ers, who posted a 9-73 record in 1972-73, the worst mark in NBA history. That swagger had to come from somewhere. 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. In Cunninghams debut year the team went 55-27 and won the Atlantic Division before losing to eventual-champion Washington in the Eastern Conference finals. Find Billy Cunningham 76ers stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. Watch even half of any of his highlight reels and youll understand why he made this list. With an average height of 64, Arizin had fantastic ball handling skills, played a mean defense, and had some seriously bouncy feet. The Hawks favorite flight story, like many stories of that era, features Chamberlain as a foil. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. Billy Cunningham found success and stardom during his ABA days. 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. As a rookie in 1965-66, he pulled down 7.5 rpg, scored 14.3 ppg and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team. Instant green. White started five games, but was mostly a mop-up guy, then was injured and finished his career in a pro league in Mexico. 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. After the 19711972 season, Cunningham left Philadelphia and the NBA for the rival American Basketball Association (ABA), signing on with the (North) Carolina Cougars. Theres no greater feeling than going up in a crowd, over guys a foot taller., Tommy (the Hawk) Hawkins said: If you can think about Peter Pan, thats the feeling. (b. I mean, what next? Youre just up there and nobody else can get up there., David (Skywalker) Thompson said: Sometimes Id surprise myself. Moral of this story: dont count the white guys out of this sport just yet. Billy Cunningham played fiercely, coached intensely, and won frequently. He also had stellar 3-pointer abilities, but after that 1996 air show, most of his other accomplishments were left in the dust. Billy Cunningham was born in the Parkville section of Brooklyn, New York. So maybe his African American genes are a little stronger than his Caucasian ones after all? These guys will never forget the blur of that mullet-ed head flying past them. Now imagine yourself crouching a bit, like Superman, and springing high into the air. Its a rush, a thrill, said the Elevator from Decatur. We sure are glad he picked basketball! Hes set records for leading the NBA in dunks during his very first year playing pro. Joey averaged 19.5 points at Southern Idaho and led the team to a national junior college title. 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. In his second season with Carolina, Cunningham was hampered by injuries, but he still managed a 20.5 average in 32 games. Small Forward and Power Forward Billy Cunningham attended Erasmus Hall in Brooklyn, New York and UNC. As the NBA celebrates it's 75th Anniversary Season, get to know dozens of star players who helped make the NBA what it is today. The Memphis forward sustained the injury Friday night during the 1st quarter of the Grizzlies 113-97 loss to the Nuggets. Some of them were pretty damn eccentric. Said Trenkle: He can take the ball with his right hand, go up, put it between his legs and dunk it behind his head with his left hand. He led the Cougars to the best record in the league and was selected to the All-ABA First Team and was named the ABA MVP. The color barrier and the sex barrier of slam-dunk have fallen: Many white guys and a few women can dunk. 1943 He would toss the ball off the backboard and then slam it home. No. Then he goes into coaching and, percentage-wise, becomes one of the best ever. He had a baseball cap on, and he turned the bill sideways. Youd be hard pressed to find a list of Best Dunks that didnt include his legendary knee-to-the-throat jump on Mark Jackson, where he rose like a Phoenix (how clever!) He was called the Kangaroo Kid for his prodigious leaping ability. Hey, a sportswriter dunks. He is six feet seven inches tall. The greatest leaper I ever saw was Jackie. Thunder Dan has more than made friends with the rim and earned his name! I saw him come down the floor once, in the Eastern League, on a fast break. The most frequent flyers? Can the old Elevator still ascend? The following season Philadelphia won sixty-two games and the Eastern Division title but lost to the Celtics in the playoffs. Hed shoot it short and Joe and I would leap up and shake hands over the basket.. 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. After that season, Cunningham jumped from the NBA to the ABA with the Carolina Cougars. All rights reserved. Among his numerous career achievements, he was named to the 1966 All-Rookie Team and three All-NBA First Teams. I could. Cunningham returned to Philadelphia in 1977 to become the coach of the 76ers, replacing Gene Shue. If you play the game, you know how high that is. Nope. William John "Billy" Cunningham was born on June 3, 1943. Still, the thrill is not all gone. I defy anyone to say they took change off the top of the backboard, Chamberlain said. Now they take everything off and it takes a lot more to get people excited.. I was a good free throw shooter in college.. Ervings early obscurity helped make him famous. Join us for a March Madness Webinar on Tuesday, March 7 at 8pm ET. Billy Cunningham found success as a coach in the NBA after his playing days were through. I knew he was right there with me. If the Land of Leap had a national holiday, it would be Feb. 8, the anniversary of the legendary 1976 ABA All-Star games first--and last--slam dunk contest. I won the unofficial NBA slam dunk title that season, said White, who now sells heavy equipment in Georgia. Cunningham also set a single-game North Carolina record with 48 points against Tulane on December 10, 1964. In his first ABA season, Cunningham averaged 24.1 points per game, 12.0 rebounds per game, and led the league in total steals. The difference between the two marks, in inches, is the players sergeant jump, as in, Joe Smith has a 29-inch sergeant.. 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. Then theres Jerry Mr. However, none of the other basketball-playing Barry brothers Scooter, Jon, and Drew - can claim to be the only white man in history to win the Slam Dunk contest, though. With the exception of Chamberlain, Dr. J was the first superleaper who was also a superstar NBA player, and the first big-time player to exploit the dunk as an art form at the pro level. 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. Never got off the bench, but in warmups he could dunk better than anyone Ive ever seen.. As a freshman he went out for the track team, worked out a total of 10 hours, then high-jumped 7-3 7/8. If you are having difficulty accessing any content on this website, please visit our Accessibility page. His entire head and neck were above the rim. Jack Gardner, a former college coach, did our testing, Nissalke said. After Chamberlain left the team in 1968, Cunningham became the 76ers' franchise player. In 1961, his senior year, Cunningham led his team to the city championship and was a high school All-American. But while Cunningham was reaching his peak, the 76ers were beginning to crumble. I asked Kareem if he ever did, and he could jump a little bit. That year, he was the First-Team All-New York . He would perform a reverse dunk-dunk with two balls. Wilt meets me at mid-court and says, Na, na, na, not this time.. He had wide shoulders--he was built like Orlando (Woolridge), 6-7 or 6-8. In fact, he set the record for most blocks and field goal percentage in a season at his high school, Linganore High in Mt. He reached both the 300 and 400-win milestones faster than any coach in NBA history. At Carolina, he was reunited with the coach Larry Brown, who had been a UNC teammate. 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. Learn more and register, College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com Blog and Articles. All rights reserved. Pitchin Paul is credited as being one of the first basketball players to ever use the jump shot. Billy Cunningham of the Philadelphia 76ers shoots a jump shot against the Boston Celtics during a game played in 1968 at the Boston Garden in Boston,. Upon his retirement on May 28, 1985,[13] his 454 wins as a head coach were the 12th best in NBA history. Those Sixers advanced to the East finals before losing in five games to the Celtics. Professional basketball player 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. There was a Philadelphia boy, Sonny Hill, about 5-10 (actually 5-9), he was the first guy that size I ever saw dunk. Ill give you an example. Thats a mouthful. Terrell Owens Gets Into Fight Outside CVS. Weary of the NBA lifestyle, Cunningham retired. Julius, Gus (Johnson), Pogo Joe Caldwell. Legends abound of the truly great leapers who could touch the top of the board.

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