Cade Cunningham is having the best season of his career in every way. The fourth-year point guard is averaging 24.9 points, 9.4 assists, and 6.5 rebounds per game while leading his Detroit Pistons to a 23-22 record, which is currently good for sixth place in the Eastern Conference. Many people believed the Oklahoma State Alum had done enough to warrant an All-Star starter spot, but his snub led Gilbert Arenas to make a few controversial comments about his marketability in Detroit.
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Arenas took to his Gil’s Arena podcast to acknowledge how well Cade has played this season, but he also said that the young star would be much better off in a bigger market. Arenas has said words to this effect before, and Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff actually responded to him in a recent postgame press conference.
Bickerstaff cited guys like Kevin Durant and Tim Duncan who have thrived in smaller markets, and he rattled off a slew of Pistons greats such as Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Chauncey Billups, and Ben Wallace whose places in history are secured after bringing championships to the Motor City.
Arenas shot back by using himself and his own playing career as an example.
“Tim Duncan, best power forward ever, right? And most people, when we talk top five, they forget to bring him up, because you just forget about him, right? Chauncey Billups too, right? Now I was with Chauncey Billups after he won a championship with Adidas, and Tim Duncan was already a three- or four-time All-Star. I sold more shoes than they did. I was more popular than they are.”
Arenas then cited Donovan Mitchell, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Nikola Jokic as current examples of players who are great but don’t get the recognition or shoe sales that they would in a bigger market.
Gilbert Arenas proved his priorities are misplaced when it comes to NBA stardom
Arenas is focusing on entirely the wrong things in this conversation. Tim Duncan won five titles, is in the Hall-of-Fame, and made $80 million more in his career than Arenas. SGA will most likely sign a supermax extension this summer that will pay him almost $300 million over four years. Why does it matter how many shoes he sells?
He conveniently omits guys like Giannis who have thrived in smaller markets while still being immensely popular. The Greek Freak is the 7th most followed player on Instagram among active NBA players.
The fact is, Cade Cunningham is having an excellent season, and he could become a legend if, like Thomas and Billups before him, he’s able to lead the Pistons to a championship someday. He’s going to make hundreds of millions in his career whether he’s playing for Detroit, New York, or a new expansion franchise in Wyoming.
Being in a big market is no guarantee of success. Just ask Kawhi Leonard, who’s done nothing with the Clippers after thriving in San Antonio and Toronto. On the contrary, he’s seen his reputation take a hit, because his failures have been compounded because of the extra eyes on him.
Cade Cunningham needs to just keep doing what he’s doing and success will follow.
