Pinned
After the Pistons’ 14-win season, Cade Cunningham had FOMO watching the playoffs. He texted someone he knew would understand.
I spoke with them both for an exclusive on how that text sparked Detroit’s two-year turnaround:
Hunter Patterson
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Hunter Patterson
@HunterPatterson
- I love Detroit. All of Little Caesars Arena is iced out tonight from the kids to the grannies.
00:00 - Asked Ausar Thompson what challenges he’s had guarding Jalen Brunson so far: “None.”
00:00 - J.B. Bickerstaff on the Kings firing Mike Brown: “The way that it was handled was classless. When Mike pours himself into his job like he does, he deserves better than that. … I thought it was shitty, to be honest with you, the way it was handled.”
00:00 - Asked Cade Cunningham what it meant to be the first Pistons All-Star since Blake Griffin and the first Detroit guard since Allen Iverson: “It’s a blessing to be part of a franchise like this. Like I’ve been saying, I want my own chapter in this history & this is the beginning.”
00:00 - Cade Cunningham on the Pistons’ progression: “It’s still pretty early. … We’re just now turning the corner as far as just not being losers. We were losers for a little stint in the NBA. But we all have winning habits, winning mentalities.
00:00 - Asked Cade Cunningham about his message to the team pregame and why he gave it: “I wanted everybody to be on the same page, we weren’t going to be outworked today. … We lost two in a row, so this was a big game for us.”
00:00 - Malik Beasley’s answer was simple when I asked if he’s ever been on a team this close: “No.” And clearly there’s real competition to see who makes the Call of Duty squad on a nightly basis.
00:00 - Asked Cade Cunningham his thoughts on the officiating down the stretch in Game 3: “If you catch the ball in the frontcourt and you cross the line, I thought that was backcourt. … I thought the time on the clock, I thought we could check that. It was decided not to.”
00:00 - Asked Draymond Green his opinion on Cade Cunningham and he gave an insightful answer. Green spoke on what makes Cunningham special, why he thinks he should be an All-Star and the next step for him. Here’s the full two minutes:
00:00 - Malik Beasley on how he plans to keep Jaden Ivey encouraged as he recovers from injury: “Texted him this morning again to remind him everything happens for a reason. … We’re home all month, (he’ll) let me come over and hang out with him, play some games & keep his spirit high.”
00:00 - With Cade Cunningham out, he’ll average 26.1 points on 35.6% from 3, 9.1 assists & 6.1 boards. He joins Nikola Jokić (2x), LeBron James and Luka Dončić as the only players in NBA history to average those numbers for a season. Cade is the youngest to do it at 23.
- Asked Cade Cunningham what a younger version of himself would think of competing against KD and LeBron and winning both games. “It’s everything I’ve always asked for. The fact that they’re still doing it at this high of a level, I don’t think anybody could’ve guessed that.”
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