The Wilt Chamberlain Legacy Auction of 2025 has come and gone! After last year’s Legends Auction captured the hearts of fans and philanthropists alike, this year’s event honored something even more powerful than the 100-point game floor pieces (though they are there for the bidding).

It was a legacy reunion of basketball giants across generations, all connected through their Philadelphia roots and my dad, Billy Cunningham, who bridges these eras of Sixers greatness.

As a Wilt Chamberlain Memorial Fund committee member, I feel honored to help carry this legacy forward. (And a few stories from dad can’t hurt either). May we always be reminded of the quote on Wilt’s statue:

“The worth of a man is measured by the size of his heart.”

The auction embodied Wilt’s spirit, with proceeds benefiting the Fund’s scholarship recipients from the greater Philadelphia area for their college and vocational education.

When Basketball Legends Reunite Through Time

There’s something magical about watching basketball legends come together.

I saw it firsthand at our home in 2011, when the 1983 championship team reunited. The laughter, the stories, the playful ribbing—these men were no longer just former teammates, but family hanging around in our backyard, sitting around our kitchen table.

I remember watching them sign basketballs for each other, pose for photos, and relive moments the way fans do.

Yes, we’re all fans when we’re having a reunion.

Teammates: A Basketball Family

Dad’s journey forms a living bridge across basketball generations, and it’s all represented in this legacy.

He played alongside Wilt and Hal Greer to win the 1967 championship.

To think that all those legends are getting a silent tribute in this silent auction.

The auction featured a signed photo from Dad of the 1967 team celebrating their win against the Boston Celtics. It was a huge celebration—the Celtics had gone to the playoffs for eight years, and it was the first time they had lost in the playoffs. But Dad recalls what happened after that photo was taken. Wilt said, “That’s enough celebrating. We still have one more objective.” The locker room got all quiet. The guys changed their clothes and started thinking about the next series. And the rest, as they say, was history.

Dad went from playing with Wilt to playing against him, playing with Doug Collins, and coaching him. Seeing a signed photo from Doug Collins’ playing days made me smile.

My youngest and I joined Dad to see Doug get inducted into the Hall of Fame in October 2024. Since I never got to see my own Dad inducted, this was a huge treat. But Doug’s speech went over (really over), and the teleprompter kept blinking 0:00 WRAP IT UP!!! Doug’s contribution to the game of basketball wasn’t cut short (the way his playing days were due to injury) because a teleprompter told him to.

From Teammate To Coach – New Generations Same Family

But Dad wasn’t only a player. He went on to coach Moses Malone, Julius Erving, Maurice Cheeks, and the others not represented in this auction, to win the 1983 title.

One of my favorite auction pieces was the piece of Julius Erving by Art of Words with the date, opponent and score from every game of the 1982-’83 championship season. The artist, Dan Duffy (who also did a piece on Allen Iverson) is a lifelong fan of Dr J (and AI). And, he said, “When I had the honor of giving the original to Mr. Erving, he jokingly said he has a photographic memory of all the games and would be fact-checking my work. I haven’t heard back from him yet!” Mr. Erving has a special place in all of our hearts.

Seeing Moses Malone (1955-2015) in this auction was so wonderful. It’s as if he still stands with us with this signed photo. We spent one last memory with him when the team reunited at my house in 2011.

I look at Maurice Cheeks’ signed jersey and hear Dad remembering when Maurice Cheeks surprised him—he dunked the ball in the Championship playoff game.

But Dad couldn’t hear that Cheeks has a jersey in the auction without saying, “What about Andrew?’

Andrew Toney is missing from this reunion, but not from our hearts.

But Charles Barkley is here.  Dad coached him, too. Barkley’s such an engaging TV personality today that you almost forget he joins the ranks of Top 50 NBA Legends. Dad said that Charles lost a lot of weight to become the great player that he became.

My favorite auction piece was the signed photo from Daryl Dawkins (1957-2015), whom Dad coached as well. He was a starter for the 76ers before he was traded the year before they won the Championship. But he is most affectionately known for breaking the backboard twice and naming his dunks. He had 17 names, and the one that was the most popular was The Chocolate Thunder. Looking closely at this auction item, you will see it’s signed “Darryl Chocolate Thunder.”

Voices Across Generations

Through Dad’s stories, these legends—whether still with us or not—reunite in a deeply meaningful way:

“Dip” Wilt Chamberlain (1936–1999) – Team captain and leader when Dad was the 6th man on the ’67 championship team. When Wilt’s sister, Barbara Lewis, Steve Cozen, and Dad created the Wilt Chamberlain Memorial Fund, they felt Philly hadn’t given Wilt the recognition he deserved as “the greatest basketball player of all time.”

In many ways, The Great Legacy Reunion lives on—not just through the players’ memories but through the power of events like the Wilt Chamberlain Legends Auction, where legacy meets purpose, and history is passed forward, not just remembered.

The Extended Family: From Court to Community

The Wilt Chamberlain Legends Auction wasn’t just about collecting. It gave us a chance to connect to greatness, to community, and to each other.

This year, it became more than an event. We celebrated basketball excellence, heart, unity, and the lasting impact of one man’s legacy and philanthropy.

The Reunion Continues

The Legends Auction closed on April 7, 2025. As we gathered these treasures spanning decades of Philadelphia basketball, we weren’t just collecting memorabilia—we were reuniting moments, stories, and legacies that continue to inspire both on and off the court.

To this day, Dad keeps track of his team. They call him regularly, always addressing him as “Coach” – a title he hates, though it’s how they’ll always think of him (and how I think of him, too). That enduring connection speaks volumes about the bond formed during those championship years – a relationship that transcends basketball and continues to this day.

This auction, got Dad reflecting on the championship team, “I was so fortunate to have such wonderful men to work with. Over the whole playoff series, we only lost one game. It was such a close family.” 

That family spirit extends through this auction and the Wilt Fund. Every contribution connects past greatness to future potential – basketball legends helping create tomorrow’s leaders through education and opportunity.

If these mementos could talk, they would tell us what Wilt showed us: true legacy isn’t measured in statistics or championships but in the lives we touch along the way – a reunion of purpose that continues even decades after the final buzzer. However, let’s be honest: a 100-point game doesn’t hurt the legacy either.

I had so much fun writing about the Championship reunion that a “Reunion Series” might just be in the works! Stay tuned…