If you give bonus points for obscurity and mystery, it would be Joey Johnson, younger brother of Celtic guard Dennis. 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. Hes sought advice from Tim Duncan on how to be a great leader and win with his team. In our museum of hoop flight, there is a special wing for the charter members, the dinosaurs of dunk. Data Provided By Durant, a four-time scoring champion, now sets his sights on Hakeem Olajuwon in 12th place. billy cunningham vertical jump - ingenioemprendedor.com Philadelphia won 62 games the next season, but the Celtics upset the 76ers in the playoffs. 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. Chamberlain played for the Globetrotters in the 58-59 season and said: Jumpin Joe Buckhalter and I would line up on opposite sides of the free throw lane when Meadowlark Lemon was shooting a free throw. "Rubin Quits L. I. U. to Pilot 76ers,", Goldaper, Sam. Every time Gus slam-dunked at home, the recorded sound of a rifle shot would whistle through the arena. [14] He then returned for one last year to help cover the 1991 NCAA men's basketball tournament, partnered with Dick Stockton once again. 1936-1999 He stood below the basket, no run, just jumped straight up with his arms at his sides, flipped his head sideways and dunked his cap.. Billy Cunningham 76ers Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images He didnt just score, he scored OVER people, including all 68 of Plastic Man Stacey Augmon. After playing for Philadelphia from 1965 to 1972, he signed a free agent contract with the ABA's . Athletics are in this guys genes; daddy Rick Barry produced a total of four bball loving sons. 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. With an average height of 64, Arizin had fantastic ball handling skills, played a mean defense, and had some seriously bouncy feet. Billy Cunningham is an American former professional basketball player and coach, who was nicknamed the Kangaroo Kid. https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/cunningham-william-john-billy, "Cunningham, William John ("Billy") Dunk is cheap. He also had a famously difficult childhood and came from very humble beginnings; it was his hometown of French Lick, Indiana, that inspired the nickname The Hick from French Lick. He was determined not to let his tiny hometown or his troubled family life hold him back though, and instead remained hardworking and classy until the end of his career. He was a No. In 1996 he was voted one of the top fifty players at the NBA's fiftieth anniversary. Nobody ever played the game could rise any better than Jackie. 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. Not only could he walk, but he was also an All-ACC selection three times and a two-time All-American. Jackie took off, jumped over Normans head and dunked the ball.. We sure are glad he picked basketball! About a year ago, I was in a playground game with some black guys. They think they could track down what the announcer calls a routine fly ball. These are not necessarily great basketball players, understand, but their ability to jump has made them objects of something much deeper than profound respect. William John Cunningham (The Kangaroo Kid, Kang, Billy C) Position: Small Forward and Power Forward Shoots: Left 6-6, 210lb (198cm, 95kg) . I dont know anything he has done that hasnt worked. Then we ask him to jump and we mark the highest point he touched. Yep. At (one NBA tryout camp), where we had a strong cross section of draftees, the highest was 36 1/2 inches. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? Subscribe to Stathead Basketball: Get your first month FREEYour All-Access Ticket to the Basketball Reference Database. Cunningham, William John ("Billy") | Encyclopedia.com Pasty skin. 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. American basketball player How does Zion "only" have a vertical jump of 40.5 inches when - reddit Its even been called hellicious.. Detroits Adrian Dantley, 6-foot-4, and Clevelands Phil Hubbard, 6-8, were the only front-court starters to go through the season dunkless. In addition to the MLA, Chicago, and APA styles, your school, university, publication, or institution may have its own requirements for citations. One of the more recent players on this list, Chris Birdman Anderson is known for his celebratory arm flapping and his intriguing tattoos. Do you have a blog? A fiery coach, Cunningham stalked the sidelines with the best of them. 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. Weary of the NBA lifestyle, Cunningham retired. Why isnt this guy in the hall of fame yet? After acquiring the talented Moses Malone for the 19821983 season, Philadelphia won sixty-five regular season games and then the league championship, losing one of thirteen play-off games. College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com, Scores from any date in BAA/NBA or ABA history, Frequently Asked Questions about the NBA, WNBA and Basketball, Basketball-Reference.com Blog and Articles, Subscribe to Stathead Basketball: Get your first month FREE. His departure had a disastrous effect on the 76ers, who posted a 9-73 record in 1972-73, the worst mark in NBA history. Claims of sergeants in the mid- and high 40s are common. Billy Cunningham - Basketball-Reference.com billy cunningham vertical jump - epcorcentre.org In 1968-69, Cunningham broke loose, scoring 24.8 ppg and recording 12.8 rpg while earning his first of four consecutive All-Star appearances and the first of three successive berths on the All-NBA First Team. Billy Cunningham - IMDb I knew he was right there with me. I see kids in the eighth grade, kids 5-11, dunking behind their heads, said Rod Thorn, former National Basketball Assn. Cunningham was a member of the powerful 1967 Sixers championship team, which also featured Wilt Chamberlain, Hal Greer, Chet Walker, and Luke Jackson. 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. 1943 No question, the mystique of the superleaper remains. And that performance in Denver was the national coming-out party for Dr. J, the godfather of dunk. Theres not room for both of us. The next day Red let Rabbit go. In those eight seasons, the team posted a 454-196 record, reached three NBA Finals and captured a championship in 1983. Billy Cunningham was a standout scorer for the Philadelphia 76ers. Billy Cunningham was born in the Parkville section of Brooklyn, New York. 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. He was an NBA champion both as a player (1967) and as a coach (1983). His list of accolades from his time at the University of North Carolina is probably as long as his legs (hes 67, in case youre wondering), which is not surprising since anybody with the nickname Kangaroo Kid must have worked pretty hard and jumped pretty high to earn it. I told him Id read he had a 44. "In a way the injury made things easy for me," he said later. Who would he share a wing with? Since joining the NBA in the 2002-03 season, this guy has achieved dozens of honours and awards, including three MVP award shares and a spot playing in two All-Star games. The college boys are no doubt wide eyed and gape-mouthed when they meet this coach for the first time. 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. I lived there that summer, he later recalled. A fairly average 65 Sura fit in among the other players on the court, but he set himself apart with his gorgeous dunking abilities. Not a great deal is known about Jackie, which is good, because nothing dims a legend faster than facts. Herb White was moved to write a poem about an eagle that had lost its ability to soar. He played 80 games, primarily as a sixth man, while averaging 14.3 points and 7.5 rebounds a game. During one game he went THROUGH and OVER the 77 Manute Bol of the Golden State Warriors to ALMOST score. That said, you can see his leaping ability when he takes off. Theyve run like the wind, ducked like a water fowl, flown like jet planes, and scored more points than Cassanova in a disco. The University of North Carolina (UNC) coach Frank McGuire convinced Cunningham to enroll there. By the time Dr. J got to the NBA, in 1976 at the age of 26, more than 25% of his leg spring--by his estimate--was shot. Unlike Thompson, a huge star at North Carolina State, Dr. J kind of sneaked up on the basketball world. Free, Darryl Dawkins and Bobby Jones. His standing vertical was 37.5 inches. He inherited a team of underachievers led by Julius Erving. Cunningham hit for 18.9 ppg and 7.6 rpg. Well find out next season. Hes also not 100% African American, though, which means he doesnt automatically have insane jumping genes. Shoots: Also, his dunk on Dwight Howard during the 2008 Olympic finals was unreal. The obvious question is, why didnt more of these guys play in the NBA? Wed been on the bus eight hours by then, Trenkle said. Gus once said, When I dunked that ball and heard that shot for the first time, I said to myself, Oh, oh, Gus. Cunningham joined the broadcast team for CBS in the 197677 season, often paired with Brent Musburger, leaving after the season ended to coach the 76ers. Dolph Schayes is an icon in Philadelphia 76ers lore and was one of the NBA's first stars as well. In the division finals, however, Philadelphia fell to Boston. Sura strutted and slammed his stuff in both the 1997 Slam Dunk Competition and the All Star Weekend, and his jumps were recorded to be about 39 inches. Dont send letters, leapers. Were playing in Philadelphia, against Wilt, Hawkins relates. He spent several years as one of the owners of the Miami Heat and the team quickly became a contender. 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. Bill Cunningham - 700WLW Patterson, who recently resigned as Arizona States coach, said that Johnson is really an impact player, but not consistently good and solid. He and Hal Greer were the only key players from the 1967 championship team still playing vital roles. He cant quite jump out of the gym, but he has come close to jumping out of a bar or two. Can you do that? But the final came down to David Thompson vs. Julius Erving--the Skywalker vs. the Doctor. 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. June 3, Jay Norman, an outstanding defensive player, went into his defensive stance at the foul line. He would get up in the air and spread those wings, hed be swoopin. Oh my God, Smith recalled thinking. How in the world can this kid play ball? 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. We played Portland in the last game of the season. Many of the legendary leapers of that era didnt play NBA ball because all they could do was leap. The Cougars' attempt to file an injunction against him was denied in United States District Court on September 24, 1971. He was about a foot from the top.. Now an NBA journeyman, Dawkins came into the NBA in 1975, straight out of high school, billed as the center of the future. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. Find out more. Position: Among his numerous career achievements, he was named to the 1966 All-Rookie Team and three All-NBA First Teams. Anybodv can win the lottery, 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. As a freshman he went out for the track team, worked out a total of 10 hours, then high-jumped 7-3 7/8. We present them here for purely educational purposes. Retrieved February 22, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/cunningham-william-john-billy. He walked into the gym one morning and there was a TV crew set up. Terrell Owens Gets Into Fight Outside CVS. He is still the winningest coach in Sixers history. With a dad who played basketball center for Northwestern Oklahoma University, and a childhood that included playing baseball, football, AND hoops, Blake Griffin was destined for greatness. All rights reserved. He rises to the highest level of broadcasting. Select from premium Billy Cunningham 76ers of the highest quality. 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,. Jackie Jacksons all-around game, by most accounts, was only fair. 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. Player stats broken down into various categories; i.e. 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. 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 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. The Grizzlies say their star guard will be away from the team for 'at least' the next 2 games. junio 12, 2022. abc news anchors female philadelphia . In Game 2 of the 1967 NBA Finals, Cunningham scored 28 points during a 126-95 win over the San Francisco Warriors.[3]. 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 a tough, intense, competitive player who used his intelligence as much as his physical talents. Jerry West could get up. Join us for a March Madness Webinar on Tuesday, March 7 at 8pm ET. In 1966-67, the 76ers dominated the NBA. The rim was two inches low. One of basketball's all-time greats, Cunningham was elected to the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame and honored by selection to both the NBA's 50th and 75th Anniversary Teams as one of its legendary players, as well as to the ABA All-Time Team. Joey, standing about eight feet from the shooter, leaped and slapped the shot away. 75 Stories | Billy Cunningham - YouTube 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.. [15], For other people named William Cunningham, see, Learn how and when to remove this template message, ACC 50th Anniversary men's basketball team, List of National Basketball Association single-game playoff scoring leaders, "The Rumble: AN OFF-THE-BALL LOOK AT YOUR FAVORITE SPORTS CELEBRITIES", "Philadelphia 76ers 134 - Portland Trail Blazers 132", Goldaper, Sam. It didnt make no difference to him.. Injuries limited Cunningham to only 32 games in 1973-74, but he still averaged 20.5 ppg. Upload media Wikipedia. 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. Hey, a sportswriter dunks. 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. Moral of this story: dont count the white guys out of this sport just yet. Billy can jump up to 29-31 inches (vertical leap). Jackie stays in the air and the ref calls a three-second violation. Cunningham attended Erasmus Hall Chamberlain couldnt remember the players name, but Rod Thorn did. In 1974 Cunningham returned to the 76ers. He had tested thousands of Navy pilots during the war, and he said Griffiths was the highest he ever measured.. CUNNINGHAM, William John ("Billy") ( b. Very easily.. Refer to each styles convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. But listen to Wilt. So goes the popular assumption. "I don't know anything he has done that hasn't worked," said the Orlando, Florida, executive Pat Williams. Seniors Are Getting Freaking And A New Loofah Code Lets Everyone Know. They were trying to touch the top of the board, Nissalke said. It was legendary, however, and cemented young Majerle as one of the best white dunkers of all time. [CDATA[ The white guys listed below are heroes of the basketball world. Curtis Bunn, a 6-1 reporter for Newsday, has a very decent repertoire of slams. Cunningham grew up in Brooklyn and on his fifth birthday he received a basketball. Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: Sports Figures. NBA.com is part of Warner Media, LLCs Turner Sports & Entertainment Digital Network, *Translations are limited to select pages, NBA Legends: Profiling the league's greats, Brooks suspended after receiving 16th technical foul, Grizzlies' Clarke (torn achilles) out indefinitely, Ja will be away from team for 'at least' 2 games, Ex-NBA player Morrow facing assault charges, Durant passes 'Big O' for 13th in career points, NBA Fantasy: Under-the-radar additions for playoffs. I said, What the hell, Im 40. . Its a remarkable life.. And after all, The sun even shines on a dog's a** some days. After this historic 2015 event, Twitter lit up with the hashtag #WhiteMenCanJump (the up in lit up is so well placed, right?). The Leaping Legends of Basketball : Some of The Names Will Jump Out at Upon graduation, his 1,062 rebounds were the best in North Carolina history and he held single-season records for most rebounds (379 in 1964) and rebound average (16.1 in 1963). > Archive 75: Billy Cunningham| 75 Stories: Billy Cunningham. for once. Joey walked up to the wall, one foot planted, no rocking, jumped up and missed the nail. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. Billy Cunningham played fiercely, coached intensely, and won frequently. Stand underneath a basketball hoop, a regulation 10-footer. To that end, heres this writers all-time all-leap team: Dr. J, the Big Dipper, Air Jordan, David Skywalker and Joey Johnson. 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. Note that this is not the official NBA measurement. There are celebrity dunk-offs. Cunningham could not even crack the starting lineupwhich . We Have Fusion Energy! The next season, the consistent Cunningham scored 23.3 points per game and was selected as an All-Star for the fourth time. He would perform a reverse dunk-dunk with two balls. Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. If you play the game, you know how high that is. This guy couldshoot AND dunk. He was elected to the Hall of Fame the following year. In Madison Square Garden, he got a standing ovation for his warmup dunks. 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). His jersey number "32" was later retired by Philadelphia. They swept the Knicks in the conference semis and topped the Bucks in five games to reach another Finals, where they swept longtime nemesis L.A. for the championship. They asked him to show how high he could jump, so with no warmup of any kind, in his school clothes, Joey stood there, jumped up and put his chin on the rim. In the 2005 NBA pre-draft camp he gained 34.5 inches of air. He scored 16,310 points and pulled down nearly 8,000 rebounds. 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. He was never even charged with wrongdoing, but the NBA ban stuck until Connies lawyers broke it down in 1969, when the Hawk was 27 and well past his swooping prime. 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. Youre entering another world up there. RotoWire names five under-the-radar players who could add value to your rosters as we approach fantasy playoffs. I was a good free throw shooter in college.. And despite the proliferation of dunkers, there is a very elite group of leapers. After that season, he earned the first of what would be three straight All-NBA First Team selections. ! Billy Cunningham attended Erasmus Hall in Brooklyn, New York and UNC. In 1965, Cunningham joined the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association. Joey made the trip but was nursing a hip pointer, so he couldnt suit up. Javascript is required for the selection of a player. The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. Thompson, as a consolation prize, won the MVP award in the All-Star game itself. 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. Latrell Sprewell, a rising NBA star, would be known more for his off-court antics than his bas, Erving, Julius 1950 In 1972-73, he was named the Most Valuable Player of the American Basketball Association and he scored 18 points in the ABA All-Star Game. Top 15 NBA Players Who Prove That White Men CAN Jump, The sun even shines on a dog's a** some days. Ridiculous, but it has been done, by a kid youve probably never heard of, unless you started reading this story at the end. I never had to agonize over that decision all athletes face.. Upon his retirement on May 28, 1985,[13] his 454 wins as a head coach were the 12th best in NBA history. 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. Do you have a sports website? Professional basketball player, sports administrator It is. 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. snoop dogg zodiac chart New Lab; kaplan children's furniture; is there quicksand in georgia; 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. The soaring flight of the great leaper is amazing, even to himself. Encyclopedias almanacs transcripts and maps, Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: Sports Figures. Griffin was born of half Afro-Haitian descent and half Caucasian. His performance in the 2009 Sprite Slam Dunk Contest was nothing less than stellar, and some say he was robbed of the chance to move to the next round. Then he went to North Carolina and was an All-American. If we were to honor dunkers as we honor actors, Doc would be given a statuette for his body of work. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Join us for a March Madness Webinar on Tuesday, March 7 at 8pm ET. Billy Cunningham, Actor: You've Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You'll Lose That Beat. (2000). In The Finals, however, Abdul-Jabbar, Earvin Magic Johnson, Jamaal Wilkes and the Lakers were too much. 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. Billy Cunningham. I could. 2019Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. . No. Fiery and volatile, he would pace the sidelines, driving his team relentlessly. Basketball Player Billy Cunningham's Net Worth, Wife, and Bio Do you have a blog? Bobby Jones could swoop and soar. The greatest jumper today? 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. Many of the great leapers of that era inhabited the fringes of reality as we know it. In his second season with Carolina, Cunningham was hampered by injuries, but he still managed a 20.5 average in 32 games. Cunningham scored 18.9 points per game. 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. 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.

Pet Friendly Duplex For Rent Lincoln, Ne, Articles B