I said to him, Yes, yes, yes! Wilt said, Im gonna kill you. . The Leaping Legends of Basketball : Some of The Names Will Jump Out at All logos are the trademark & property of their owners and not Sports Reference LLC. Theyll all be going through and over their mountainous opponents in no time! Cunningham became a playground regular, a gym rat, and a high school star, leading Erasmus Hall to the New York City Championship in 1961. 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. [4], Cunningham signed a threeyear contract on August 5, 1969 to begin play with the American Basketball Association's Carolina Cougars in 197172. Billy Cunningham wasn't nicknamed the Kangaroo Kid because he had a pouch. Join us for a March Madness Webinar on Tuesday, March 7 at 8pm ET. 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. The greatest leaper I ever saw was Jackie. Home Depot Is Selling A Giant 89-Pound Crab Statue For $1,500. Gus was a colorful thunder dunker and a breaker of backboards. On 6 May 1986 Cunningham was elected into the NBA Hall of Fame, as one of its ten initial inductees. This story is not that important. In Madison Square Garden, he got a standing ovation for his warmup dunks. He also became an NBA broadcaster on national television and later a part-owner of the Miami Heat. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? Billy Cunningham College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com 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. You dont play with a red, white and blue ball if youre into dignity. His shooting skills may be what he is best remembered for, but his vertical leaps were nothing to sneeze at: he made 28 inches on more than one occasion. billy cunningham vertical jump Billy Cunningham. The greatest jumper today? Rosters Cut,", "1978 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals - New York Knicks vs. Philadelphia 76ers", Goldaper, Sam. And he made it to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame with a career that reads like a how-to book for legends. . During one game he went THROUGH and OVER the 77 Manute Bol of the Golden State Warriors to ALMOST score. With Malone in the middle, and Erving, Bobby Jones, Cheeks and Andrew Toney all playing key roles, the 76ers went 65-17 and blew through the Atlantic Division. During his playing career, he was a 4-time All-Star and 3-time All-NBA First Team selection. Cunningham was a member of the powerful 1967 Sixers championship team, which also featured Wilt Chamberlain, Hal Greer, Chet Walker, and Luke Jackson. After three days, Rabbit said to Red, One of us is gonna have to go., Red said, What do you mean? Rabbit said, Either get rid of Bob Cousy or get rid of me. In our museum of hoop flight, there is a special wing for the charter members, the dinosaurs of dunk. window.__mirage2 = {petok:"ZbxZ3AJWWjyZL0HXDpABwVdW.7p3rtLrWMEsK2FPL0A-86400-0"}; the official stats partner of the NBA, NHL and MLB. Many of the great leapers of that era inhabited the fringes of reality as we know it. Back when he played for the Phillies, they had him dribbling alongside Wilt The Stilt Chamberlain for two seasons, and when Chamberlain left in 69, the 76ers had a Kangaroo as their star. 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. Hey, a sportswriter dunks. "I lived there that summer," he later recalled. Its a remarkable life.. Earl Manigault was another fabulous flyer off the Eastern blacktop in the late 50s and early 60s. After that season, Cunningham jumped from the NBA to the ABA with the Carolina Cougars. Many of the legendary leapers of that era didnt play NBA ball because all they could do was leap. Joey averaged 19.5 points at Southern Idaho and led the team to a national junior college title. Look up. American basketball player Cunningham grew up in Brooklyn and on his fifth birthday he received a basketball. Then an All-Star. ." Top 15 NBA Players Who Prove That White Men CAN Jump - TheSportster 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. In the 197374 season, Cunningham and the Cougars finished third in the Eastern Division and lost again to the Kentucky Colonels in the Eastern Division semifinals. The players who fly through this thin air are not simply remembered by hoop fans. Cunningham began his second basketball career on Nov. 4, 1977, when he was hired to replace Gene Shue at the Sixers helm. Eight players dunked in triple figures: Barkley of Philadelphia, 188; Jordan of Chicago, 156; Otis Thorpe of Golden State, 150; Pat Ewing of the Knicks, 146; Karl Malone of Utah, 142; Drexler of Portland, 130; Wilkins of Atlanta, 126, and Olajuwon of Houston, 118. Dennis never was much of a leaper. 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. 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. That swagger had to come from somewhere. Encyclopedia.com. To think that we can thank a bunch of sweaty dancers for this fundamental basketball maneuver. Buffman and Cunningham decided to team up in the venture, and they brought in Lewis Schaffel and Ted Arison. Billy Cunningham Wiki, Biography, Age, Career, Relationship, Net Worth The Philadelphia 76ers star was a consistent scorer throughout his heyday in the 1960s and '70s. He was a high school superstar. His masterpiece was a backboard shattering dunk over Kansas City forward Bill Robinzine. Now imagine yourself crouching a bit, like Superman, and springing high into the air. Bobby Jones could swoop and soar. Stanfords 6-4 Todd Lichti is a big-time leaper, regardless of race, creed or color. The college boys are no doubt wide eyed and gape-mouthed when they meet this coach for the first time. 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. Stanford's 6-4 Todd Lichti is a big-time leaper, regardless of race, creed or color. He scored 16,310 points and pulled down nearly 8,000 rebounds. 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. All the teams did that. In 1997 Cunningham became the expert commentator for the CBS television network's coverage of NBA games. He was discovered. Still, the thrill is not all gone. Celtics legend Larry Bird might just be the most famous white guy in basketball. 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. Bill Cunningham - 700WLW Its a rush, a thrill, said the Elevator from Decatur. Technicalities, you know. Bones Barry is pretty much Larry Bird, only with a slightly higher jump and significantly longer shorts. It looked like the half-court line was around a mile and a half away, Cunningham said. Dont send letters, leapers. Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: Sports Figures. 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 said he was afraid he would cut himself. 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. And that performance in Denver was the national coming-out party for Dr. J, the godfather of dunk. They were trying to touch the top of the board, Nissalke said. Media in category "Billy Cunningham" The following 5 files are in this category, out of 5 total. The Philadelphia 76ers selected Cunningham in the first round of the 1965 NBA Draft, figuring the 6-foot-6 bony and mobile player would be a guard. Granted, the majority of the NBAs highest flying players have been African Americans, but some of the white guys get their share of air time. Free, Darryl Dawkins and Bobby Jones. I mean, what next? Not too shabby at all, right? And some colleges and pro teams were not ready to take chances on what went along with those guys. Many have speculated about the reasons behind this phenomenon. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny OFFICIAL TRAILER! Has Joey Johnson simply outleaped the game of basketball? The white guys listed below are heroes of the basketball world. 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 was with the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers for 17 years . At (one NBA tryout camp), where we had a strong cross section of draftees, the highest was 36 1/2 inches. 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. As a sophomore, with as little work, he improved to 7-5 7/8. Before the game, English and I went back and forth. married Sondra; they had two daughters. The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. They were like jazz musicians in sneakers. 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. Among his numerous career achievements, he was named to the 1966 All-Rookie Team and three All-NBA First Teams. He says it came by accident, that in his early days they often played on dance floors, which were often slippery, so he started jumping to avoid sliding and faceplanting. Join our linker program. Learn more and register. He finally got a pro tryout with the Utah Stars of the ABA at 25, but by then his fabulous springs were sprung. Some are best at soaring up for a three-pointer, some rock at the jump shots, some can perform slam dunks like nobodys business, and they all work their butts off to prove that they belong in this black mans sport. 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. Keith had a 32. It's also available for football, hockey and baseball. 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. Thats about half the height of Michael Jordan. For three days, Rabbit put on a show like theyve never seen before. His standing vertical was 37.5 inches. In a 14-year professional career studded with superla-tives, Wilt Chamberlain established the, Mikan, George White is a regular at Hawk games and a fan of Wilkins. He was a five-time All Star, 1972-73 MVP, and received recognition for numerous goals, throws, rebounds, and assist plays. Joey walked up to the wall, one foot planted, no rocking, jumped up and missed the nail. Despite his Caucasian genetic setbacks, he shot up an unbelievable 41.5 inches at the NBA Draft Combine in 2014. Yes, 44. 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. Retrieved February 22, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/cunningham-william-john-billy. 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. 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. Michael Jordan has stopped just short of holding the ball in his mouth, uncoiling his tongue in mid-flight and inventing the Anteater Slam. Durant, a four-time scoring champion, now sets his sights on Hakeem Olajuwon in 12th place. These are professional men: Dr. J, Dr. Dunkenstein, Dr. Jam. Shoots: Soon Greer would be alone. At the 1991 Slam Dunk Competition he came in third. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. us, High School: Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. The NBA had no such contest at the time, considering such frivolity to be beneath the senior leagues dignity. See, for example, Jan Hubbard, ed., The Official NBA Basketball Encyclopedia, 3d ed. His fame began while he was playing at St. Rose of Lima and later Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn,[1] where he was the MVP in the Brooklyn League in 1961. He is still the winningest coach in Sixers history. Against Tulane University on 10 December 1964, he set a UNC record by scoring forty-eight points. His departure had a disastrous effect. Also, his dunk on Dwight Howard during the 2008 Olympic finals was unreal. In his second season with Carolina, Cunningham was hampered by injuries, but he still managed a 20.5 average in 32 games. Youre entering another world up there. The rim was two inches low. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. I loved it instantly." I dont know anything he has done that hasnt worked. He inherited a team of underachievers led by Julius Erving. RotoWire names five under-the-radar players who could add value to your rosters as we approach fantasy playoffs. He was in the gym in Mesa one afternoon, in street clothes and basketball shoes. Philadelphia switched Cunningham to small forward, a position that allowed him to use his tenacity and jumping ability around the boards. 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