Something feels different in Detroit this season, and it starts with Cade Cunningham. The former top overall pick is finally putting it all together, averaging 24 points a night while guiding the Pistons to the best record in the Eastern Conference. It feels less like potential and more like arrival, and even Shaquille O’Neal believes it’s time Cunningham gets the recognition he deserves.
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For a franchise that hasn’t seriously sniffed contention since 2004, that shift matters. Yes, Detroit made the playoffs last season, but the first-round exit against the Knicks left a bad taste. Instead of backing down, though, it seems to have sharpened their edge. Cunningham, in particular, has taken that matchup personally. He’s torched New York this year, and the Pistons suddenly look like the standard of the East.
O’Neal spoke highly of Cunningham during the latest edition of Inside the NBA, labeling him an MVP candidate, one near the top of the list. Why? Because the 24-year-old does everything right.
“I watched him play the other day, and he has a complete game. He does everything right. Not mostly right. He does everything right all the time with the way he plays, his pace, how he’s playing,” stated the Hall of Famer. And that is high praise, something Shaq rarely gives out. He clearly sees the same hunger in Cade that he had during his prime in the early 2000s.
O’Neal also believes that Cade and the rest of the Pistons have that aura, that energy that only a championship can satisfy.
“They got that look, Kenny. You know the look I’m talking about. ‘We’re on a mission this year.’ They thought they could do something last year and they fell short. Nobody expected the Pistons to be where they are right now,” the Lakers legend added.
“[Cade] does everything right. Not mostly right, he does everything right all the time.”@SHAQ discusses why he thinks Cade Cunningham should be MVP
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— ESPN (@espn) February 27, 2026
When a voice like the Diesel puts you at the top of his MVP list, that’s more than just hype. It means the league is officially on notice about Cunningham. What makes this run feel sustainable is not just the scoring or the highlights, but the maturity. He’s controlling games the way seasoned contenders do, and that confidence has clearly spread through the locker room.
Detroit is not playing like a feel-good regular-season story. They are carrying themselves like a group that expects to be playing deep into June. If Cade keeps setting that tone, the Pistons will not just be chasing respect anymore, they will be chasing banners. And honestly, no one in the East, not the Knicks, Celtics, Cavaliers, or Raptors, looks prepared for what’s coming.
