Posted by; Date June 12, 2022; Comments . The following season Philadelphia won sixty-two games and the Eastern Division title but lost to the Celtics in the 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. 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. billy cunningham vertical jump. 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. . Billy Cunningham was drafted by Philadelphia 76ers, 1st round (7th pick, 7th overall), 1965 NBA Draft. He spent several years as one of the owners of the Miami Heat and the team quickly became a contender. There have been--and are--very good white jumpers. We should be glad he doesnt demand his own useum. He had a baseball cap on, and he turned the bill sideways. Bones Barry is pretty much Larry Bird, only with a slightly higher jump and significantly longer shorts. As a rebounder and jump shooter he averaged 18.5 ppg and 7.3 rpg. White is a regular at Hawk games and a fan of Wilkins. Anybodv can win the lottery.. Its a rush, a thrill, said the Elevator from Decatur. Pregame warmups were his showtime. He was an incredible shot blocker. With an average height of 64, Arizin had fantastic ball handling skills, played a mean defense, and had some seriously bouncy feet. He ran out of his house and to the hoop at St. Rose of Lima grammar school, three blocks away. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. Hed shoot it short and Joe and I would leap up and shake hands over the basket.. "Shue Ousted, Cunningham Named; N.B.A. Stanfords 6-4 Todd Lichti is a big-time leaper, regardless of race, creed or color. But the final came down to David Thompson vs. Julius Erving--the Skywalker vs. the Doctor. 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. Against Tulane University on 10 December 1964, he set a UNC record by scoring forty-eight points. He was so good, Red Auerbach saw him play in a schoolyard game and invited him to camp with the Celtics. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. Dolph Schayes is an icon in Philadelphia 76ers lore and was one of the NBA's first stars as well. So maybe his African American genes are a little stronger than his Caucasian ones after all? Jones, a noted defensive terror. One boy did dunks of a monster nature, so they named him after the only monster they knew that could fly--Rodan. In his first ABA season, Cunningham averaged 24.1 points per game, 12.0 rebounds per game, and led the league in total steals. Professional basketball player He would toss the ball off the backboard and then slam it home. Hailing from Argentina and a family chock full of ball players, Ginobili uses his signature Euro Step to fake out the defense and get him where he needs to go. 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. He told me, Sonny, no. . Everybody dunks. Why not simply whip out a tape measure and measure the leapers leaps, take the guesswork out of whos the greatest? Claims of sergeants in the mid- and high 40s are common. And he made it to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame with a career that reads like a how-to book for legends. Dawkins claimed to have come from the planet Lovetron, he called himself Chocolate Thunder and Zandokan the Mad Dunker, and he named his dunks. "Rubin Quits L. I. U. to Pilot 76ers,", Goldaper, Sam. Were playing in Philadelphia, against Wilt, Hawkins relates. In 1962, Johnson jumped and touched a spot high on the wall, and a nail was driven into the spot to commemorate the unbelievable leap. He walked into the gym one morning and there was a TV crew set up. He prevailed in the end! Weve all heard the saying: white men cant jump. Ron Shelton even made a (fantastic) movie about it in the 90s! Curtis Bunn, a 6-1 reporter for Newsday, has a very decent repertoire of slams. Encyclopedia.com gives you the ability to cite reference entries and articles according to common styles from the Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, and the American Psychological Association (APA). He reached both the 300 and 400-win milestones faster than any coach in NBA history. His jersey number "32" was later retired by Philadelphia. Stanford's 6-4 Todd Lichti is a big-time leaper, regardless of race, creed or color. And despite the proliferation of dunkers, there is a very elite group of leapers. He once grabbed a record 27 rebounds in a game vs. Clemson on February 16, 1963. Clutch West, with his awe-inspiring 60-foot shot in the 1970 NBA Final. Billy Cunningham (Billy; The Kangaroo Kid) Position: Forward 6-6 , 210lb (198cm, 95kg) School: North Carolina (Men) Draft: Philadelphia 76ers, 1st round (7th pick, 7th overall), 1965 NBA draft SUMMARY Career G 69 PTS 24.8 TRB 15.4 AST - FG% 47.3 FT% 62.8 Cunningham Overview More Cunningham Pages More Cunningham pages at Sports Reference So he tried it again, grabbed the nail and bent it straight down. No discussion of legendary leapers is complete without heated debate. They are enshrined in a mythical Museum of Leap. Cunningham reached 200, 300, and 400 wins faster than any previous coach in NBA history. Hey, a sportswriter dunks. And he played it constantly. The new generation of jumpers, ushered in by Julius Erving, has pushed the dunk to new artistic heights. In the 19661967 season the 76ers were a powerhouse, winning sixty-eight against only thirteen losses and beating the Boston Celtics and San Francisco in the playoffs to win the championship. Philadelphia won 62 games the next season, but the Celtics upset the 76ers in the playoffs. His man takes him into the key, gives a head fake and sends Jackie skyward. Not too shabby at all, right? 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. The Cougars' attempt to file an injunction against him was denied in United States District Court on September 24, 1971. Hes earned a list of nicknames, including LaVine The Machine as well as being part of the Bounce Brothers duo with Minnesota Timerwolves teammate Andrew Wiggins. Unlike Thompson, a huge star at North Carolina State, Dr. J kind of sneaked up on the basketball world. We Have Fusion Energy! His entire head and neck were above the rim. Bobby Jones could swoop and soar. Billy Cunningham was a standout scorer for the Philadelphia 76ers. Cunningham also set a single-game North Carolina record with 48 points against Tulane on December 10, 1964. But who has seen him? . Professional basketball player These are true royalty: Sir Jamalot, Sir Slam, the Prince of Midair. Ill give you an example. https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/cunningham-william-john-billy, "Cunningham, William John ("Billy") 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. The most frequent flyers? 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. David came the closest, Kupchak said. 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. We ask the player to stand next to a wall, flat-footed, one arm stretched to its maximum, and mark the apex of his fingers. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? Billy Cunningham wasn't nicknamed the Kangaroo Kid because he had a pouch. In The Finals, however, Abdul-Jabbar, Earvin Magic Johnson, Jamaal Wilkes and the Lakers were too much. It's like walking on air. 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,. Billy Cunningham. Think about Steve Nash and the beautiful game he played: flawless passes, sinking 90.4% of his free throws, point guard skills on point every time. I mean, what next? 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. Known as "The Kangaroo Kid," he won an NBA Championship with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1967, then coached the team to another championship in 1983. Billy Cunningham is an American former professional basketball player and coach, who was nicknamed the Kangaroo Kid. Cunningham again led the team in scoring in 1970-71, ranking ninth in the NBA with 23.0 ppg. 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. He was elected to the Hall of Fame the following year. If youre looking for scale, thats taller than most baby elephants. Now imagine yourself crouching a bit, like Superman, and springing high into the air. His masterpiece was a backboard shattering dunk over Kansas City forward Bill Robinzine. 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. The man waits and waits for Jackie to start coming down, but waits too long. Its not just his personality that gets attention, though; hes been an NBA Champion in 2013, participated in the Slam Dunk Contest twice, and his vertical leap measures in at a not-too-shabby 37 inches. Most of the players had between 29 and 33, so I dont believe any of that stuff in the 40s.. Jackie Jacksons all-around game, by most accounts, was only fair. It was those antsy feet that made him unstoppable, resulting in his inclusion on 10 All-Star Games, achieving the 1952 All-Star Game MVP, and nabbing 5 MVP Award shares. [10] In October 2021, he was also named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.[11]. 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. 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. Still, the thrill is not all gone. These guys will never forget the blur of that mullet-ed head flying past them. Its almost like burlesque dancing. The Smooth Criminal, as he was called when he played for Spain, didnt stick with the NBA for too long, but sure made an impact. 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. Jackie stays in the air and the ref calls a three-second violation. After playing for Philadelphia from 1965 to 1972, he signed a free agent contract with the ABA's . Cunningham would never play again. That said, you can see his leaping ability when he takes off. In 1997 Cunningham became the expert commentator for the CBS television network's coverage of NBA games. 3 June 1943 in Brooklyn, New York), professional basketball player known for his vertical leap who was a top scorer and rebounder in the 1960s and 1970s, and who later became a winning coach, television commentator, and team owner. Joey? Subscribe to Stathead Basketball: Get your first month FREEYour All-Access Ticket to the Basketball Reference Database. June 12, 2022 . As a player and then a coach for the Philadelphia 76ers, he was part of two NBA championship teams. If they play the game far above the rim, it is because they are tall. Billy Cunningham was born in New York on June 3, 1943. Dunk is cheap. I saw him come down the floor once, in the Eastern League, on a fast break. (2000). Though he portrayed a large woman in "You have to Walk it like you talk it or You'll Lose that Beat" (1971), he is best known as an American former professional basketball player and coach. He would replace the injured and aging Luke Jackson as the starting power forward of the team, and averaged 24.8 points per game and 12.8 rebounds per game during the 196869 season while leading the 76ers to 55 wins. Note, this is done in an automated way, so we apologize for any errors, & please. "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.". American basketball player [4], Cunningham signed a threeyear contract on August 5, 1969 to begin play with the American Basketball Association's Carolina Cougars in 197172. In the Museum of Leap, Wilt (the Big Dipper) Chamberlain has his own wing. The Doc won it with a long run, a leap from two inches inside the free throw line and a dramatic, powerful windmill slam. I defy anyone to say they took change off the top of the backboard, Chamberlain said. 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