Brief Biography of NBA Legend Billy Cunningham and His Career

Billy Cunningham was born on June 3, 1943 in Brooklyn, New York. Cunningham attended Erasmus Hall High School where he became a standout basketball player. He was selected as a member of the All New York City basketball team.

After high school, Cunningham attended the University of North Carolina where he also became successful in basketball. At only 6' 7" he played center for the team. Cunningham scored 1,709 points in his career at North Carolina as well as pulling down 1,062 rebounds. He was all ACC Player of the Year in 1965. After the success of his basketball career at North Carolina, Cunningham decided to take his game to the next level and enter the NBA.

In his first year in the NBA, Cunningham joined up with the Philadelphia 76ers and became an immediate force on the court. Though he did not start, Cunningham somehow managed to score 14.3 points per game to go along with 7.5 rebounds. This is quite a feat considering two of his teammates were Wilt Chamberlain and Hal Greer.

In the following season, Cunningham was a large part of the 76ers success as they would win 68 regular season games and capture an NBA Title. It was during this season that Cunningham came off the bench as a sixth man and still averaged 18.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. He was known for being extremely productive during his time in the game.

Cunningham would play five more seasons in Philadelphia and would continue to increase his statistical output. During his best season in 1969-1970, Cunningham would score 26.1 points per game.

In 1972, Billy Cunningham made the decision to leave the NBA and take his basketball career to the ABA. He played for the Carolina Cougars for two seasons and put together some good numbers. In the 1972-1973 season, Cunningham scored 24.1 points per game to go along with 12.0 rebounds. It was during this same season that he won the league's Most Valuable Player award. During the next season he would only play 32 games due to health issues but still manage to score 20.5 points per game.

In 1974, Cunningham returned to the NBA and the Philadelphia 76ers. He would go on to play two more seasons in Philadelphia before retiring in 1976.

It would not be long until Cunningham would return to the NBA as a coach. He joined up once again with the 76ers in 1977 and became their head coach. Cunningham proved to be an excellent coach and led the 76ers to three division championships in only five seasons. He retired from coaching with 454 career wins.

Billy Cunningham was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1986.