I made a left turn at the baseline, flew under the basket to the other side, put it through his arms, and dunked it with two hands over my head. Billy Cunningham is an American former professional basketball player and coach, who was nicknamed the Kangaroo Kid. He reached both the 300 and 400-win milestones faster than any coach in NBA history. Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: Sports Figures. I see kids in the eighth grade, kids 5-11, dunking behind their heads, said Rod Thorn, former National Basketball Assn. I saw him come down the floor once, in the Eastern League, on a fast break. It was like, Legend has it that 20 men are buried in Boot Hill because of this guy. The ABA wasnt about dignity, it was about style. You dont play with a red, white and blue ball if youre into dignity. "I lived there that summer," he later recalled. As a freshman he went out for the track team, worked out a total of 10 hours, then high-jumped 7-3 7/8. Yep. Michael Jordan has stopped just short of holding the ball in his mouth, uncoiling his tongue in mid-flight and inventing the Anteater Slam. My mother has a bar here in southern Idaho, and shes got a nail where Joey touched, at 11-9 1/2.. After playing for Philadelphia from 1965 to 1972, he signed a free agent contract with the ABA's . And the man has pulled out some pretty crazy surprise dunks. Bobby Jones could swoop and soar. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. 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. He was discovered. Cunningham began his second basketball career on Nov. 4, 1977, when he was hired to replace Gene Shue at the Sixers helm. There have been--and are--very good white jumpers. 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. If thats not impressive enough for you, he also played on two NBA championship teams and later coached the Philadelphia 76ers for eight seasons. 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 was a role player on the 1967 title team in . How does Zion "only" have a vertical jump of 40.5 inches when - reddit It was the Human Highlight Film vs. a Selected Short. 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. Find out more. CUNNINGHAM, William John ("Billy") ( b. For his eleven-year career, Cunningham averaged 21.2 points per game. Okay, so LaVine is technically not 100% Caucasian. The college boys are no doubt wide eyed and gape-mouthed when they meet this coach for the first time. 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. He finally got a pro tryout with the Utah Stars of the ABA at 25, but by then his fabulous springs were sprung. Injuries limited Cunningham to only 32 games in 1973-74, but he still averaged 20.5 ppg. Left, Born: Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. Learn more and register, College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com Blog and Articles. 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. In 1987, Cunningham replaced Tom Heinsohn as the lead color commentator (alongside play-by-play man Dick Stockton) for CBS' NBA telecasts. The NBA had no such contest at the time, considering such frivolity to be beneath the senior leagues dignity. As a player and then a coach for the Philadelphia 76ers, he was part of two NBA championship teams. Cade Cunningham has a vertical jump of 41 inches. Dont send letters, leapers. Griffin has been one of the most electrifying dunkers in the NBA for the past eight years. "In a way the injury made things easy for me," he said later. Its almost like you were floating, like there was no such thing as gravity. Blonde hair. They were a winning team the next two seasons but could not repeat as champions, and Cunningham retired after the 19841985 season. So much has been written and said about Julius Erving over the years that i, Allen, Marcus 1960 Stanford's 6-4 Todd Lichti is a big-time leaper, regardless of race, creed or color. But who has seen him? . Technicalities, you know. 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. 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. It doesnt take a detective to see these were obviously a foreshadowing of plays to come. Whats unfortunate is that most people regard the great leapers as being only the short guys who could dunk, said the 7-1 1/16 Chamberlain. He didnt just score, he scored OVER people, including all 68 of Plastic Man Stacey Augmon. He was a five-time All Star, 1972-73 MVP, and received recognition for numerous goals, throws, rebounds, and assist plays. 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. So maybe his African American genes are a little stronger than his Caucasian ones after all? All the teams did that. Hawkins is now vice president of communications for the Dodgers. During his eight seasons as the coach of the 76ers, Philadelphia won 454 regular season games and lost 196. Close to the superleaper class in Kupchaks book, but a shade short, are Charles Barkley, Larry Nance, Orlando Woolridge, Roy Hinson, Tom Chambers and Akeem Olajuwon. Or write about sports? In the 2005 NBA pre-draft camp he gained 34.5 inches of air. Do you have a sports website? Nope. Also, his dunk on Dwight Howard during the 2008 Olympic finals was unreal. He was with the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers for 17 years . Curtis Bunn, a 6-1 reporter for Newsday, has a very decent repertoire of slams. If youre looking for scale, thats taller than most baby elephants. He was so good, Red Auerbach saw him play in a schoolyard game and invited him to camp with the Celtics. So he tried it again, grabbed the nail and bent it straight down. A lot of great leapers dont bother to perfect those skills, because they are treated with such awe. Jackie took off, jumped over Normans head and dunked the ball.. At Southern Idaho, the legend grew. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. One dunking dinosaur who could fly and play was Gus Johnson, a 6-6 hipster-forward who had a gold star implanted in a front tooth. 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.. They annihilated the opposition all season and finished with a 68-13 record. Jackie stays in the air and the ref calls a three-second violation. Billy Cunningham was drafted by Philadelphia 76ers, 1st round (7th pick, 7th overall), 1965 NBA Draft. Somebody done gotcha. But man, that was sweet music. Joey made the trip but was nursing a hip pointer, so he couldnt suit up. > Archive 75: Billy Cunningham| 75 Stories: Billy Cunningham. In 1966-67, the 76ers dominated the NBA. Not only could he dunk, but he had a serious white boy swagger. However, the poet laureate of leap is Darryl Dawkins. Cunningham led the league in steals with 216 and was fourth in scoring with a 24.1 points-per-game average. The soaring flight of the great leaper is amazing, even to himself. I knew he was right there with me. Billy Cunningham found success and stardom during his ABA days. Robinson, David 1965 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. It didnt make no difference to him.. Chamberlain was asked, werent there any great leapers of the white persuasion? 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. Dennis never was much of a leaper. Cunningham, William John ("Billy") | Encyclopedia.com City, and a member of the Parade Magazine All-America Team. 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. In Madison Square Garden, he got a standing ovation for his warmup dunks. Cunningham, though, tore up the ABA. Billy Cunningham wasnt nicknamed the Kangaroo Kid because he had a pouch. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame :: Billy Cunningham Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. Billy can jump up to 29-31 inches (vertical leap). Chamberlain remembers other playground legends: Boy named Helicopter (real name: Herman Knowings) had incredible wingspan. We Have Fusion Energy! In a way the injury made things easy for me, he added. What happens when you put stilts on kangaroo? Unlike Thompson, a huge star at North Carolina State, Dr. J kind of sneaked up on the basketball world. Thats how much air was between Connaughton and those shiny floorboards at the NBA Combine in 2015. billy cunningham vertical jump - quraneducator.com Jerry West could get up. 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. Kareem came the closest. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. The Memphis forward sustained the injury Friday night during the 1st quarter of the Grizzlies 113-97 loss to the Nuggets. There is no full-length biography of Cunningham, but he is mentioned in most authoritative histories of basketball and in several magazine and online profiles. He walked into the gym one morning and there was a TV crew set up. Youre entering another world up there. Can the old Elevator still ascend? After that season, Cunningham jumped from the NBA to the ABA with the Carolina Cougars. Were playing in Philadelphia, against Wilt, Hawkins relates. Among his numerous career achievements, he was named to the 1966 All-Rookie Team and three All-NBA First Teams. Cunningham again led the team in scoring in 1970-71, ranking ninth in the NBA with 23.0 ppg. To that end, heres this writers all-time all-leap team: Dr. J, the Big Dipper, Air Jordan, David Skywalker and Joey Johnson. We present them here for purely educational purposes. Find out more. But the final came down to David Thompson vs. Julius Erving--the Skywalker vs. the Doctor. https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/cunningham-william-john-billy, "Cunningham, William John ("Billy") Known as 'The Kangaroo Kid,' Billy Cunningham was a high-flying scorer who won an NBA title as a player and coach with the 76ers. The legendary player and coach was named the ABA MVP for the 1972-73 season. He may be the greatest leaper of all time. 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. There are two other pure measurements of leap--the dunk and the top of the money exchange. 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. It is. No. snoop dogg zodiac chart New Lab; kaplan children's furniture; is there quicksand in georgia; RotoWire names five under-the-radar players who could add value to your rosters as we approach fantasy playoffs. 1943 When Cunningham got off the bus in Chapel Hill in the fall of 1961, he was all skin and bones, a freckle-faced redhead with a clumsy, pigeon-toed gait. It didnt happen, though, and Fernandez remains playing with Real Madrid, where he feels he is a better player.This, however, is debatable. There was a Philadelphia boy, Sonny Hill, about 5-10 (actually 5-9), he was the first guy that size I ever saw dunk. The Leaping Legends of Basketball : Some of The Names Will Jump Out at Gus was a colorful thunder dunker and a breaker of backboards. He was a consummate team player, and he used the same unifying concept and enthusiasm to become a successful head coach. In warmups, we would always check out the other team and get into little contests with their guys. 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. Athletic Club, has worked with most of the great L.A. prep stars of the last two decades. The most frequent flyers? Pasty skin. In fact, his hockey-head-ish hair might even be as famous as his dunk. We should be glad he doesnt demand his own useum. The color barrier and the sex barrier of slam-dunk have fallen: Many white guys and a few women can dunk. His jersey number "32" was later retired by Philadelphia. 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. 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. 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.

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