John had served in World War II and ultimately became the Assistant Chief of New York City.

[7][8] That year, he was the First-Team All-New York City, and a member of the Parade Magazine All-America Team.

McGuire had been recruiting New York high schoolers, and Cunningham's parents wanted him to attend North Carolina, which he did.

[14][5] In game 2 of the 1967 NBA Finals, Cunningham scored 28 points during a 126–95 win over the San Francisco Warriors.

[14] Luke Jackson replaced Chamberlain at center for the 1968-1969 season (until a devastating injury sidelined him in December).

[20] 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.

[21] Cunningham signed a three-year contract on August 5, 1969, to begin play with the American Basketball Association's Carolina Cougars in 1971–72.

[22] The reversal of that judgment in the United States Court of Appeals 6+1⁄2 months later on April 5, 1972, meant that Cunningham was obligated to honor his Cougars contract until its expiration in October 1974.

[23] 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.

[26] He led the Cougars to the best record in the league,[27] was selected to the All-ABA First Team[28] and was named the ABA MVP.

In the Division Finals, the Cougars lost a tight seven-game series to the Kentucky Colonels, 4 games to 3.

[14] During his tenure, the team featured Bobby Jones, Maurice Cheeks, Andrew Toney, Moses Malone, and Julius Erving.

[5] He led Philadelphia to the playoffs in every year as coach, and advanced to the NBA Finals 3 times, in the 1979–80, 1981–82 and 1982–83 seasons.

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.