The NBA on NBC is gearing up for its return. We’re just over a month away from Opening Night of the NBA season, and it’s going to start with a bang, as NBC will have a scintillating doubleheader featuring the Oklahoma City Thunder versus the Houston Rockets, followed by the Golden State Warriors taking on the Los Angeles Lakers. If you listen closely, you can almost hear the pulse-pounding rhythm of Roundball Rock.
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To gear up for its triumphant return to the hardwood, NBC has been welcoming some of basketball’s biggest stars to The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Last week featured Steph Curry and reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and last night’s guest was Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham.
The Pistons were last season’s surprise team, jumping up from 14 wins the year before all the way to a 44-38 record and a 6-seed. Cade made a major leap forward, averaging a career-high 26.1 points and 9.1 assists per game while also making his first All-Star team and finishing seventh in the MVP voting.
Fallon asked Cade, “How did you feel about the last couple seasons?” to which Cade responded, “We’re on the way up, I feel great.” He should, considering that in his first three seasons his team won a total of 54 games only to make such a dramatic turnaround last year.
Cade gave credit to the front office and coaching staff for finally setting the franchise on the right path. “I think the start of that has to be Trajan Langdon, J.B. Bickerstaff,” he said.
“First and foremost, they came in and they brought a structure to us and just another hunger that really helped guide us. We had a horrible year the year before they got here, so everybody, we all had a chip on our shoulder, and then we bring in two guys like that, that also have a chip on their shoulder,” Cade noted.
Langdon was hired as Detroit’s President of Basketball Operations in May of 2024. Less than three weeks later, he fired Monty Williams, under whom the team had completely cratered. Bickerstaff was hired to take his place, and he went on to finish second in Coach of the Year voting.
Bickerstaff helped instil that old Pistons toughness that the team had been missing. There were better teams in the league, but nobody wanted to play the Pistons because they wouldn’t back down from anyone. Cunningham, Jalen Duren, Isaiah Stewart and Malik Beasley were all major factors last season, and Jaden Ivey is expected to be back after missing over 50 games with a broken leg.
The Pistons are a proud franchise, but before last season, they hadn’t made the playoffs since 2019, and they hadn’t finished over .500 since 2016. This coming year, they’re hoping to take the next step and win a playoff series, something they haven’t done since making three straight conference finals appearances from 2006-08.
Fallon wished Cade the best of luck this season by bringing the halftime show to him, since as a player, he’s in the locker room and never gets to see it. The Pistons dance team came out and got the crowd pumped up as Fallon fired a t-shirt cannon.
It feels like this is just the kind of vibe NBC is going for now that they’re back in the NBA business — having fun by celebrating the game and showcasing its best players. Before that Opening Night blockbuster doubleheader, we’ll undoubtedly see more NBA stars in The Tonight Show studio.
