Once upon a time, Chicago native Isiah Thomas was a stranger to Detroit. 13 years, 12 All-Star Games, and two championship rings later, he was one of the city's own. Once upon a time, Thomas was Cade Cunningham, a rising star for the Pistons and a rising son of Detroit.
So when Thomas sat down with Cunningham for NBA TV this week at the Pistons' practice facility, he asked the potential Rookie of the Year if he could "describe to people who haven't lived here or been here how beautiful Detroit truly is."
"It’s crazy," said Cunningham, born and raised outside Dallas. "The amount of love that’s in the city I haven’t really felt anywhere else. If you looked at our record and then came to a game, they wouldn’t really line up for you, just because I feel like our games are a great time. I can almost feel the energy for everybody else. I can see people having a good time. I definitely didn’t know what I was getting into, I didn’t have any expectations, but I’m super excited to get the thing rolling and then bring the city together even more."
Pistons games are still sparsely attended -- the team is 20th in the NBA in average attendance. But that's higher than they've ranked in four years and better by a wide margin than the teams around them in the standings, which owes largely to the arrival of Cunningham. His feelings for the city are mutual. He has put the belief back in Deeeeetroit Basketball.
It's not just his numbers, impressive as they are. Cunningham is on pace to become just the 10th rookie in NBA history to average at least 17 points, five rebounds and five assists. It's the way in which he's reached those numbers, by competing, by leading, by not backing down, by setting the tone for the Pistons against some of the NBA's best. He scored 27 to lift Detroit over Joel Embiid, James Harden and the 76ers last week, a game after he dropped 34 in a back-and-forth battle with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and the Nets.
"When the person everybody's looking at is doing the little things -- diving on the floor, whatever it is -- there’s no reason why everybody on that team shouldn't be bringing the same amount of intensity," Cunningham said. "Even when I was a lot younger, I told myself then, 'If I’m ever the best player on the team, I’m going to try to be a dog for the team and make sure my teammates can feel that from me so they know they can follow my lead."
Other highlights from Cunningham's interview with Thomas:
On his first All-Star weekend, where he was named MVP of the Rising Stars Game: "Obviously the NBA 75 Team being there, being around that much basketball greatness, as a young guy just stepping into the league I was in awe. And then being there and really telling myself, 'I gotta be in the big game next year.' It was a lot of motivation for me, more than anything, on the level I’m trying to get to."
On his pursuit of Rookie of the Year: "I’m a rookie and I want to prove myself, but I’m not so much focused on that going into games anymore. It’s more, how can I impose my will on the game and really impact the game and show everyday who I am? And I’m not trying to prove anything to anybody. I’m just going and playing and trying to do the best I can do … The numbers and stuff will take care of itself. Having the right intentions going into the game so that we as a can team feel good about how the night went, I feel like that’s more important than anything."
Related
On the potential of the Pistons: "Everybody’s trying to get on the same wavelength as far as what the future looks like for us, and every day we’re trying to build culture. ... Being impactful doesn’t always mean being a great scorer that night. Your stat sheet might not look all that good, but if you can impact how the floor is moving, how the team is moving on offense, how we’re talking on defense, those are things that impact winning, and that’s the ultimate goal."