A Loose Ball Changed Everything
It was the most routine play in basketball. A loose ball on the floor, and Cade Cunningham went for it. That's what star players do — they compete on every possession, scramble for every 50/50 ball, set the example. He dove, collided with Wizards rookie Tre Johnson, and checked out of the game five minutes into the first quarter with what the Pistons called "back spasms." [1] It was not back spasms. Further testing revealed a left lung pneumothorax — a collapsed lung — and just like that, one of the best individual seasons in Detroit Pistons history was suddenly on hold. Reevaluation in two weeks. No confirmed return date. Season-long awards suddenly in jeopardy. The entire Eastern Conference picture shifted in an afternoon. [1]
What He Was Building
Let's just say it plainly: Cade Cunningham was having an all-time season. Not an all-time Detroit season — an all-time NBA season. He was averaging 24.5 points and 9.9 assists per game. That combination puts him in genuinely rare company. Only eight players in NBA history have finished a season averaging as many points and assists as Cade was on pace to deliver, and he would have been the first to do it in a Detroit uniform. [1] The assists number deserves special attention. He was second in the entire NBA, behind only Nikola Jokić. A 6'6" guard who can score from anywhere, read every defense, and still find teammates at a rate that makes him as much of a creator as a scorer. By early March, Sandman Sports had him ranked #1 on their MVP ballot, narrowly ahead of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The number that made the case wasn't just the stat line — it was availability. Cade had played 156 more minutes than SGA. On a team that doesn't function without him, that workload matters. [4] And the team. The Pistons were 51-19, leading the Eastern Conference by eight games over Cleveland. Two years ago, they went 14-68. That's not a typo. The 2023-24 Pistons set an NBA record with a 28-game losing streak, the longest in league history. Cade Cunningham sat through all of it. He watched his team set records for futility while averaging 24-and-6 and waiting for the organization to catch up to him. This season, they finally did. [2]


