On 6 May 1986 Cunningham was elected into the NBA Hall of Fame, as one of its ten initial inductees. Draft: Philadelphia 76ers, 1st round (7th pick, 7th overall), 1965 NBA draft, More Cunningham pages at Sports Reference, Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Saturday, March 4, 6:03AM. My sergeant was higher than Jordans. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? 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. I used to dunk on that basket. He was a competitor, said Lewis Schaffel, one of Cunninghams partners in the Miami Heat who grew up with him in Brooklyn. His departure had a disastrous effect. In the division finals, however, Philadelphia fell to Boston. Cunningham began his second basketball career on Nov. 4, 1977, when he was hired to replace Gene Shue at the Sixers helm. In the 19701971 season he again was an All-Star starter and finished ninth in the NBA with 23.0 points per game. In the exhibition season he was assigned to bring the ball up the court against Bostons K.C. In the six years of the NBAs slam dunk contest, only one white player has been invited to compete, 6-10 Tom Chambers in 1986. 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. Joey, standing about eight feet from the shooter, leaped and slapped the shot away. He walked into the gym one morning and there was a TV crew set up. Thunder Dan has more than made friends with the rim and earned his name! That swagger had to come from somewhere. Griffin was born of half Afro-Haitian descent and half Caucasian. Billy Cunningham. [CDATA[ The ABA wasnt about dignity, it was about style. 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. RotoWire names five under-the-radar players who could add value to your rosters as we approach fantasy playoffs. Every time Gus slam-dunked at home, the recorded sound of a rifle shot would whistle through the arena. He cant quite jump out of the gym, but he has come close to jumping out of a bar or two. Basketball was just a game they played for fun. I saw him come down the floor once, in the Eastern League, on a fast break. During one game he went THROUGH and OVER the 77 Manute Bol of the Golden State Warriors to ALMOST score. Dont send letters, leapers. Many of the great leapers of that era inhabited the fringes of reality as we know it. Mitch Kupchak witnessed a similar jump-off among 6-4 David Thompson, 6-9 Marvin Barnes and 7-4 Tom Burleson. The Globies listed him at 6-5, but Sonny Hill swears Jackie was 6-3, tops. Why isnt this guy in the hall of fame yet? Celtics legend Larry Bird might just be the most famous white guy in basketball. During both is college and NBA career, this guy leapt like nobodys business. Hey, a sportswriter dunks. Watch even half of any of his highlight reels and youll understand why he made this list. Chamberlain couldnt remember the players name, but Rod Thorn did. In a way the injury made things easy for me, he added. After the 19711972 season, Cunningham left Philadelphia and the NBA for the rival American Basketball Association (ABA), signing on with the (North) Carolina Cougars. American basketball player It's also available for football, hockey and baseball. He said he was afraid he would cut himself. Jump to navigation Jump to search Billy Cunningham American basketball player and coach. One day he received a call from Zev Buffman, who needed a well-known basketball personality to help secure an NBA franchise for Miami. and inspired headlines everywhere to scream White Men CAN Jump! Seriously, though. Thats a mouthful. The University of North Carolina (UNC) coach Frank McGuire convinced Cunningham to enroll there. star and now the leagues vice president of operations. [8] During his tenure, the team featured Bobby Jones, Maurice Cheeks, Andrew Toney, Moses Malone, and Julius Erving. He spent several years as one of the owners of the Miami Heat and the team quickly became a contender. 1 draft choice. Cunningham played with visible enthusiasm. Pretty darn safe. My mother has a bar here in southern Idaho, and shes got a nail where Joey touched, at 11-9 1/2.. Somebody done gotcha. But man, that was sweet music. The legendary player and coach was named the ABA MVP for the 1972-73 season. People swear he cleared it by a foot, said Fred Trenkle, Southern Idahos basketball coach. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. He had wide shoulders--he was built like Orlando (Woolridge), 6-7 or 6-8. All rights reserved. In 1965 Cunningham graduated from UNC and was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the National Basketball Association (NBA) draft. 1964 UNC at Duke, tip-off.jpg 1,454 1,750; 377 KB. 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 . June 12, 2022 . "I don't know anything he has done that hasn't worked," said the Orlando, Florida, executive Pat Williams. "I lived there that summer," he later recalled. The 1984-85 season, Cunninghams last as coach, featured the addition of rookie Charles Barkley to the team. White started five games, but was mostly a mop-up guy, then was injured and finished his career in a pro league in Mexico. No. . for once. There. Then he transferred to Arizona State, clashed with then-coach Steve Patterson and wound up quitting the team. Then he enters into the [NBA] expansion pursuit and gets it. He finally got a pro tryout with the Utah Stars of the ABA at 25, but by then his fabulous springs were sprung. In the twentieth game of the 19751976 season, Cunningham's career suddenly and inexplicably ended. 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. Cunningham led the league in steals with 216 and was fourth in scoring with a 24.1 points-per-game average. Joey didnt even have his shoes laced, Clarke said. He finished well out of the running--or jumping--when he clanged at least one attempt off the rim. He coached eight years with 76ers, never finishing lower than second place in the Atlantic and posted a career record of 454-196 (.698). I was a good free throw shooter in college.. He was named Most Valuable Player in the ABA. 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. Cunningham hit for 18.9 ppg and 7.6 rpg. He cant even walk.. Thats the outer space were dealing with today, the sky above the hoop, the rare air inhabited by only a select group of humans, the legendary leapers. Billy Cunningham. Well find out next season. While he was dribbling down the court, his knee exploded. I told him Id read he had a 44. amc gremlin for sale washington state billy cunningham vertical jump. 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. Julius, Gus (Johnson), Pogo Joe Caldwell. When I went to Kansas, they had a 12-foot basket in the gym, because Dr. Phog Allen was advocating the 12-foot basket. After that season, he earned the first of what would be three straight All-NBA First Team selections. But with a leaper, everybody instantly knows they couldnt do it, that only the tiniest fraction of humans can jump that high.. Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. In 1987, Cunningham replaced Tom Heinsohn as the lead color commentator (alongside play-by-play man Dick Stockton) for CBS' NBA telecasts. Encyclopedia.com. He played nine seasons for the Baltimore Bullets, beginning in 63, and he died last year. The color barrier and the sex barrier of slam-dunk have fallen: Many white guys and a few women can dunk. CUNNINGHAM, William John ("Billy") ( b. 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. All logos are the trademark & property of their owners and not Sports Reference LLC. Can the old Elevator still ascend? He holds the second-best regular-season winning percentage in league history of .698 (only Phil Jackson is ahead of him). They took about 10 jumps each. Professional basketball player Could this be Gods way of telling us its time to raise the hoop? It was legendary, however, and cemented young Majerle as one of the best white dunkers of all time. He scored 16,310 points and pulled down nearly 8,000 rebounds. He would toss the ball off the backboard and then slam it home. 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. Really, though, hed have to in order to make it look like he belonged there among all the African American bball greats. He played circles around a guy named Robert Cousy. He did prefer ball to hockey, after all. He inherited a team of underachievers led by Julius Erving. The new generation of jumpers, ushered in by Julius Erving, has pushed the dunk to new artistic heights. Media in category "Billy Cunningham" The following 5 files are in this category, out of 5 total. The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. 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. 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. Very tall players are seldom recognized as great leapers. He didnt just score, he scored OVER people, including all 68 of Plastic Man Stacey Augmon. With Maurice Cheeks and Lionel Hollins adding vitality to the backcourt, the Sixers roared to a 59-23 record in the 1979-80 regular season and then defeated favored Boston with rookie sensation Larry Bird in the Eastern Conference finals. As a child he wa, https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/cunningham-william-john-billy. Technicalities, you know. Pitchin Paul is credited as being one of the first basketball players to ever use the jump shot. Youre just up there and nobody else can get up there., David (Skywalker) Thompson said: Sometimes Id surprise myself. Cunningham, though, tore up the ABA. Cunningham became a playground regular, a gym rat, and a high school star, leading Erasmus Hall to the New York City Championship in 1961. But he was over by a good six to eight inches. Joey averaged 19.5 points at Southern Idaho and led the team to a national junior college title. After that season, Cunningham jumped from the NBA to the ABA with the Carolina Cougars. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. I was phoning the Charlotte Hornets to reach David (Skywalker) Thompson, who now works in the teams front office, when a female secretary said: Ive only seen two players who did things that I watched and I didnt believe--David, and Michael Jordan. 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. As a freshman he went out for the track team, worked out a total of 10 hours, then high-jumped 7-3 7/8. These are true royalty: Sir Jamalot, Sir Slam, the Prince of Midair. 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. But the winning wasnt over. It takes a lot more to get people excited now, said Chris Wallace, editor of the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook. Rosters Cut,", "1978 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals - New York Knicks vs. Philadelphia 76ers", Goldaper, Sam. Those Sixers advanced to the East finals before losing in five games to the Celtics. Lets add Billy Hoyle as an honourary #16 to this list, shall we? 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. The rim was two inches low. He would perform a reverse dunk-dunk with two balls. 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.

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