Cade Cunningham has taken on the challenge of being Detroit’s franchise player: ‘I would love to have my own chapter’

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Isaiah Stewart heard the encouraging clapping, or rather the challenge, as he stood on an island on the perimeter guarding Orlando’s Jalen Suggs.

The noise was coming from his teammate, Cade Cunningham, who overheard Magic coach Jamahl Mosley telling his players to isolate the big man — that Stewart had “slow feet” — on the final possession of the first half of their matchup on Jan. 1. Cunningham knew the comment would enrage Stewart and decided to add fuel to the fire.

Challenge accepted.

Eight seconds of nonstop clapping, eight seconds of “that’s what we want” from Cunningham, became the battery in Stewart’s back to help him get the stop before the buzzer. The 6-foot-8 center forced Suggs to miss a short pull-up jumper and prevented the Magic from gaining any ground heading into halftime.

After the play, Stewart was embraced by his point guard, the former No. 1 pick, who has guided the Detroit Pistons to a 19-18 record after a slow start.

It was a snapshot of a star player, Cunningham, who has been given his own challenge: to lead with his play, his words, the warmth of his fire.

(Amy Monks/Yahoo Sports Illustration)

And it was a stark contrast to a year ago when the league was laughing at the Pistons, who were mired in a 28-game losing streak that had many questioning not only the franchise direction but Cunningham’s worthiness as a franchise player.

“While we were going through that, the rest of the league was making fun of us, disrespecting us,” Stewart told Yahoo Sports. “And we’re men at the end of the day, we don’t tolerate that.”

Last year was, in essence, Cunningham’s second season; his true second year was cut short after just 12 games, missing the rest of the 2022-23 campaign following shin surgery on his left leg. Many nights, if not all of them in ’23-24, Cunningham had to take a long, lonely walk down a hallway during the NBA record-tying skid, gather himself and speak clearly for a franchise going through a struggle of proportions it had never experienced.

Many nights he played well or well enough to win, but it didn’t matter. Oftentimes he would be asked, “Why…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2025-01-09 16:59:00

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