William John Cunningham (born June 3, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player and coach, who was nicknamed the Kangaroo Kid His fame began while he was playing at St. Rose of Lima and later Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, where he was the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the Brooklyn League in 1961. He led an undefeated Erasmus to the New York City Championship in 1961. That year, he was the first-team All-New York City, and a member of the Parade Magazine All-America Team. Cunningham was Smith's first true star player. In 1965, he came to Smith's defense when angry fans hanged Smith in effigy, tearing down the dummy from the tree. Cunningham also set a single-game North Carolina record with 48 points against Tulane on December 10, 1964.) and rebound average (16.1 in 1963, now second He was drafted sight unseen on the recommendation of Frank McGuire. At the conclusion of the season he was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team, along with future Hall of Famer Rick Barry, Fred Hetzel, Tom Van Arsdale and Dick Van Arsdale.
Cunningham was a member of the powerful 1967 Sixers championship team, which also featured Wilt Chamberlain, Hal Greer, Chet Walker, and Luke Jackson, and is considered one of the greatest teams in NBA history. He averaged 19.7 points per game and 25 minutes played per game in the finals. After that season, he earned the first of what would be three straight All-NBA First Team selections.
150px|thumb|left|Cunningham in 1972
On December 20, 1970, Cunningham scored 31 points and grabbed a career-high 27 rebounds en route to a 134–132 road win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
ABA and legal controversy
Cunningham signed a three-year contract on August 5, 1969, to begin play with the American Basketball Association's Carolina Cougars in 1971–72. 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 four-year, $950,000 contract extension to stay with the 76ers through 1974–75, on July 15, 1970. The Cougars' attempt to file an injunction against him was denied in United States District Court on September 24, 1971.
The reversal of that judgment in the United States Court of Appeals months later on April 5, 1972, meant that Cunningham was obligated to honor his Cougars contract until its expiration in October 1974. He announced on June 15, 1972, that he was going to play with the Cougars beginning with the upcoming season, at press conferences in Charlotte and Greensboro, North Carolina. This occurred almost simultaneous to the Sixers' introduction of Roy Rubin as its new head coach.
Carolina Cougars
In his first ABA season, Cunningham averaged 24.1 points per game, 12.0 rebounds per game, He led the Cougars to the best record in the league, was selected to the All-ABA First Team and was named the ABA MVP. During the post-season, the Cougars defeated the New York Nets in five games in the Eastern Division Semifinals to advance to the Eastern Division Finals. In the Division Finals, the Cougars lost a tight seven-game series to the Kentucky Colonels, 4 games to 3.
The Cougars were coached by future Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown, who had been Cunningham's teammate at North Carolina. In the 1973–74 season, Cunningham and the Cougars finished third in the Eastern Division. Cunningham missed Game 1 of the Eastern Division Semifinals versus the Kentucky Colonels and was thought to merely dress for Game 2 due to having undergone a kidney operation, but he ultimately played in the game and the next three of the series, scoring 22 combined points as the Cougars lost in a four-game sweep. As it turned out, this was the last time Cunningham appeared in a postseason series.
Return to 76ers
After the 1973–74 season, Cunningham returned to the 76ers, where he played until torn knee cartilage and ligaments ended his career as an active player early in the 1975–76 season.
Legacy
For his career, he scored 16,310 points, grabbed 7,981 rebounds, and recorded 3,305 assists in both the NBA and the ABA. He recorded 14 triple-doubles in the NBA and five in the ABA, good for 43rd all-time in the NBA and 5th in the ABA. In 1996, Cunningham was voted as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History as part of the NBA's 50th Anniversary. In October 2021, he was also named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. To commemorate the NBA's 75th Anniversary The Athletic ranked their top 75 players of all time, and named Cunningham as the 66th greatest player in NBA history.
Coaching career
He succeeded Gene Shue as head coach of the 2–4 76ers on November 4, 1977. In his first playoff appearance, he led the Sixers to a 4-game sweep against the Knicks, before bowing down to the Bullets in six games.
He reached the 200, 300 and 400-win milestones faster than any coach in NBA history. his 454 wins as a head coach were the 12th best in NBA history. He holds the second-best regular-season winning percentage in league history of .698 (only Phil Jackson is ahead of him). He is still the winningest coach in Sixers history. Former 76ers player and coach, Hall of Famer Doug Collins said Cunningham might be the greatest 76er, when looking at his overall impact on the franchise. leaving after the season ended to coach the 76ers. Cunningham would later rejoin the CBS broadcast team starting with the 1985–86 season, again often paired with Musburger, covering both the NBA as well as NCAA men's college basketball for the network. In 1987, Cunningham replaced Tom Heinsohn as the lead color commentator (alongside play-by-play man Dick Stockton) for CBS' NBA telecasts.
Cunningham left CBS Sports the following season to join the Miami Heat expansion franchise as a minority owner and general manager; Cunningham was subsequently replaced on CBS by Hubie Brown, but would return to CBS to help fill in during the 1990 NBA Playoffs, partnered with Verne Lundquist. He then returned for one last year to help cover the 1991 NCAA men's basketball tournament, partnered with Dick Stockton once again.
ABA and NBA career statistics
Regular season
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1965–66
| style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia
| style="background:#cfecec;"|80* || || 26.7 || .426 || || .634 || 7.5 || 2.6 || || || 14.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;"| 1966–67†
| style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia
| style="background:#cfecec;"|81* || || 26.8 || .459 || || .686 || 7.3 || 2.5 || || || 18.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1967–68
| style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia
| 74 || || 28.1 || .438 || || .723 || 7.6 || 2.5 || || || 18.9
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1968–69
| style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia
| 82 || || 40.8 || .426 || || .737 || 12.8 || 3.5 || || || 24.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1969–70
| style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia
| 81 || || 39.4 || .469 || || .729 || 13.6 || 4.3 || || || 26.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1970–71
| style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia
| 81 || || 36.9 || .462 || || .734 || 11.7 || 4.9 || || || 23.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1971–72
| style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia
| 75 || || 38.6 || .461 || || .712 || 12.2 || 5.9 || || || 23.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Carolina (ABA)
| style="background:#cfecec;"|84* || || 38.7 || .487 || .286 || .789|| 12.0 || 6.3 || 2.6 || || 24.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Carolina (ABA)
| 32 || || 37.2 || .471 || .125 || .797|| 10.3 || 4.7 || 1.8 || .7 || 20.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1974–75
| style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia
| 80 || || 35.7 || .428 || || .777 || 9.1 || 5.5 || 1.1 || .4 || 19.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1975–76
| style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia
| 20 || || 32.0 || .410 || || .773 || 7.4 || 5.4 || 1.2 || .5 || 13.7
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2|Career
| 770 || || 34.9 || .452 || .263 || .730 || 10.4 || 4.3 || 1.8 || .5 || 21.2
Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1966
| style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia
| 4 || || 17.3 || .161 || || .846 || 4.5 || 2.5 || || || 5.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;"| 1967†
| style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia
| 15 || || 22.6 || .376 || || .656 || 6.2 || 2.2 || || || 15.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1968
| style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia
| 3 || || 28.7 || .558 || || .824 || 7.3 || 3.3 || || || 20.7
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1969
| style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia
| 5 || || 43.4 || .419 || || .632 || 12.6 || 2.4 || || || 24.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1970
| style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia
| 5 || || 41.0 || .496 || || .667 || 10.4 || 4.0 || || || 29.2
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1971
| style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia
| 7 || || 43.0 || .472 || || .701 || 15.4 || 5.7 || || || 25.9
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|1973
| style="text-align:left;"| Carolina (ABA)
| 12 || || 39.3 || .502 || .250 || .687 || 11.8 || 5.1 || || || 23.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|1974
| style="text-align:left;"| Carolina (ABA)
| 3 || || 20.3 || .290 || .000 || .800 || 5.3 || 2.0 || 1.3 || .0 || 7.3
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2|Career
| 54 || || 32.4 || .440 || .167 || .688 || 9.5 || 3.6 || 1.3 || .0 || 19.6
|-
Honors
- Elected to Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame (1986)
- Elected to New York City Basketball Hall of Fame (1990)