"More than anything," said Cade Cunningham, "you want the respect of your peers. So it means a lot."
Cunningham was named an All-Star Game starter on Monday, the first Pistons player to earn that distinction since Allen Iverson in 2009. But it wasn't just fans around the league who voted for Cunningham. He garnered the most player votes in the NBA, a dozen more than the second-place finisher in this category, two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.
"I think it’s a testament to the amount of success we’ve had as a team, and I think the league has to respect that," Cunningham said Monday night after the Pistons claimed their season series with the Celtics, the second-place team in the East.
The win pushed Detroit's record to 31-10, second best in the NBA to the reigning champion Thunder.
In addition to leading the NBA in player votes, Cunningham was third in media votes (behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Thunder and Jaylen Brown of the Celtics) and seventh in fan votes. His fellow starters in the East are Brown, Antetokounmpo, Jalen Brunson of the Knicks and Tyrese Maxey of the 76ers.
The starters in the West are Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, Steph Curry and Victor Wembanyama.
"Being the No. 1 team in the East, night in, night out, finding ways to win, I think the league respects that," said Cunningham, who ranks second in the NBA to Jokic in assists. "And that’s what I appreciate and that’s what we all want, is the respect from our peers."
It took a while for Cunningham and the Pistons to get it. They don't plan on relinquishing it anytime soon.