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People swear he cleared it by a foot, said Fred Trenkle, Southern Idahos basketball coach. Its even been called hellicious.. Theyve run like the wind, ducked like a water fowl, flown like jet planes, and scored more points than Cassanova in a disco. He was discovered. Chris Wallace, the college talent scout, said: I dont believe measurements. Cunningham hit for 18.9 ppg and 7.6 rpg. Jackie Jacksons all-around game, by most accounts, was only fair. In 1966 Cunningham Billy Cunningham was born in the Parkville section of Brooklyn, New York. He prevailed in the end! Billy Cunningham was born in Brooklyn, New York. Note that this is not the official NBA measurement. In 1987, the NBA Board of Governors awarded the group an expansion franchise to begin play in 1988-89 and thus the Miami Heat was born. And there was a dog. At six feet, seven inches tall and 220 pounds, Cunningham was a consistent scorer and fierce rebounder. Imagine yourself lifting off the blacktop, up and up, until you can reach into the air far above the rim. Uh oh! And Dirk Nowitzki who no doubt has walls plastered top to bottom with awards and achievements. 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. The Memphis forward sustained the injury Friday night during the 1st quarter of the Grizzlies 113-97 loss to the Nuggets. That Feb. 8, the ABA trotted out its five best slammers. Weve all heard the saying: white men cant jump. Ron Shelton even made a (fantastic) movie about it in the 90s! What happens when you put stilts on kangaroo? They were a winning team the next two seasons but could not repeat as champions, and Cunningham retired after the 19841985 season. As a child he wa, https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/cunningham-william-john-billy. The man waits and waits for Jackie to start coming down, but waits too long. 44 is only four inches less than the NBAs all-time record by His Airness, Michael Jordan, and also by Darrell Griffith. June 12, 2022 . So maybe his African American genes are a little stronger than his Caucasian ones after all? Some nights, when your legs were really there and you had total command, you felt nobody was going to get any higher than you were. 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. In the division finals, however, Philadelphia fell to Boston. Dunk is cheap. He told me, Sonny, no. . He would toss the ball off the backboard and then slam it home. In the NBA, where everyone can dunk--you wouldnt even want to rule out David Stern--there are really only a few top guns. He would perform a reverse dunk-dunk with two balls. He once grabbed a record 27 rebounds in a game vs. Clemson on February 16, 1963. And the man has pulled out some pretty crazy surprise dunks. Joey walked up to the wall, one foot planted, no rocking, jumped up and missed the nail. We sure are glad he picked basketball! window.__mirage2 = {petok:"ZbxZ3AJWWjyZL0HXDpABwVdW.7p3rtLrWMEsK2FPL0A-86400-0"}; Keith Smart always reported he had a 44. . Bobby Jones could swoop and soar. Despite his Caucasian genetic setbacks, he shot up an unbelievable 41.5 inches at the NBA Draft Combine in 2014. Legends abound of the truly great leapers who could touch the top of the board. During his playing career, he was a 4-time All-Star and 3-time All-NBA First Team selection. 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. We present them here for purely educational purposes. Wilt mentioned a few names, then said, You know, there was a white boy who played for Atlanta around 1970. 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. billy cunningham vertical jump. Pretty darn safe. 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. 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. He scored 16,310 points and pulled down nearly 8,000 rebounds. (b. At Southern Idaho, the legend grew. Julius, Gus (Johnson), Pogo Joe Caldwell. The only other thing in life I couldnt comprehend was looking at the moon and knowing there were men walking on it.. 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. All rights reserved. They couldnt, of course, because those things are so much harder than they look. The Philadelphia team Cunningham inherited featured Julius Erving, George McGinnis, Doug Collins, Lloyd B. He was a high school superstar. Claims of sergeants in the mid- and high 40s are common. billy cunningham vertical jump. Chamberlain couldnt remember the players name, but Rod Thorn did. I get a rebound and Im driving up the floor, ready to go coast to coast. In the far-up Land of Leap, the unit of currency is the dunk. At the 1991 Slam Dunk Competition he came in third. He was elected to the Hall of Fame the following year. Current Grand Canyon Antelopes coach and the Phoenix Suns favourite former shooting guard/small forward is an NBA All Star, an Olympian, and World Team member. His man takes him into the key, gives a head fake and sends Jackie skyward. Philadelphia went 47-35, second in the newly formed Atlantic Division, but was ousted again in the first round of the playoffs. It is. 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. He is still the winningest coach in Sixers history. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. He cant quite jump out of the gym, but he has come close to jumping out of a bar or two. Professional basketball player Still, the thrill is not all gone. Select from premium Billy Cunningham 76ers of the highest quality. I was a good free throw shooter in college.. During his eight seasons as the coach of the 76ers, Philadelphia won 454 regular season games and lost 196. Keith had a 32. Biography. Gus once said, When I dunked that ball and heard that shot for the first time, I said to myself, Oh, oh, Gus. ." There have been--and are--very good white jumpers. Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: Sports Figures. We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. The ABA folded after that season, but the slam-off was such a hit with the media that the concept was eventually ripped off by the NBA. Seniors Are Getting Freaking And A New Loofah Code Lets Everyone Know. However, the poet laureate of leap is Darryl Dawkins. David Robinson, future NBA Hall-of-Famer and leader of the San Antonio Spurs, was born in Key We, Chamberlain, Wilt Not too shabby at all, right? The World's Most Entertaining Car Website. 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. Durant, a four-time scoring champion, now sets his sights on Hakeem Olajuwon in 12th place. To think that we can thank a bunch of sweaty dancers for this fundamental basketball maneuver. Theyll all be going through and over their mountainous opponents in no time! . Technicalities, you know. Do you have a sports website? Oh my God, Smith recalled thinking. After playing for Philadelphia from 1965 to 1972, he signed a free agent contract with the ABA's . High Griffinition Blake joined the Oklahoma Sooners and became one of their most impressive players of all time. In 1987, Cunningham replaced Tom Heinsohn as the lead color commentator (alongside play-by-play man Dick Stockton) for CBS' NBA telecasts. Finally he did a 360, one handed. The rim was two inches low. Latrell Sprewell, a rising NBA star, would be known more for his off-court antics than his bas, Erving, Julius 1950 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). Join our linker program. 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. Some nights Id scare myself.. Billy Cunningham wasnt nicknamed the Kangaroo Kid because he had a pouch. The Kangaroo Kid, Kang, Billy C are nicknames for Billy Cunningham. White is a regular at Hawk games and a fan of Wilkins. Terrell Owens Gets Into Fight Outside CVS. Cunningham achieved a career trifecta in law, business, and government. If youre looking for scale, thats taller than most baby elephants. It didnt happen, though, and Fernandez remains playing with Real Madrid, where he feels he is a better player.This, however, is debatable. 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. In a 14-year professional career studded with superla-tives, Wilt Chamberlain established the, Mikan, George 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. In the Museum of Leap, Wilt (the Big Dipper) Chamberlain has his own wing. Billy Cunningham - Biography - IMDb In 1966-67, the 76ers dominated the NBA. 1943 Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Saturday, March 4, 4:50AM. Instant green. But the winning wasnt over. Joey averaged 19.5 points at Southern Idaho and led the team to a national junior college title. I dont know anything he has done that hasnt worked. 1936-1999 Category:Billy Cunningham - Wikimedia Commons Now imagine yourself crouching a bit, like Superman, and springing high into the air. Dunk-off of the Network Superstars? Unlike Thompson, a huge star at North Carolina State, Dr. J kind of sneaked up on the basketball world. As a freshman he went out for the track team, worked out a total of 10 hours, then high-jumped 7-3 7/8. He was a consummate team player, and he used the same unifying concept and enthusiasm to become a successful head coach. 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. The Cougars had finished last the previous season, but with Brown and Cunningham inspiring the team, the Cougars finished first. With the exception of Chamberlain, Dr. J was the first superleaper who was also a superstar NBA player, and the first big-time player to exploit the dunk as an art form at the pro level. Then he enters into the [NBA] expansion pursuit and gets it. Joey? Cunningham grew up in Brooklyn and on his fifth birthday he received a basketball. He was a competitor, said Lewis Schaffel, one of Cunninghams partners in the Miami Heat who grew up with him in Brooklyn. Athletic Club, has worked with most of the great L.A. prep stars of the last two decades. Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. Billy Cunningham found success as a coach in the NBA after his playing days were through. He is six feet seven inches tall. 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.