Cade Cunningham

Cade Cunningham is an American professional basketball player and Detroit Pistons guard. The first overall selection in the 2021 NBA Draft, he became a two-time NBA All-Star and earned All-NBA honors in consecutive seasons, including First Team recognition for 2025-26.

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About Cade Cunningham

Profile information current to 2026-08-18.

United States · Professional basketball player · 2 affiliations

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Known for: NBA basketball; College basketball; United States national-team basketball
Country: United States

Professional basketball player

At a glance

Cunningham is a Detroit Pistons guard who was selected first overall in the 2021 NBA Draft.
In his only season at Oklahoma State, he averaged 20.2 points per game, earned consensus First Team All-America recognition and won major Big 12 honors.
He averaged career highs of 26.1 points and 9.1 assists in 2024-25 and received his first All-Star and All-NBA selections.
Cunningham was an All-Star starter and All-NBA First Team selection in 2025-26, when he averaged 23.9 points and 9.9 assists during the regular season.

Early basketball background

Cunningham was born on September 25, 2001, and is identified by USA Basketball as an American from Arlington, Texas. He attended Montverde Academy in Florida, received the 2020 Naismith Boys High School Player of the Year award and, before college, helped the United States win the 2019 FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup by scoring a team-high 21 points in the final against Mali.

Oklahoma State and the NBA Draft

During his lone season at Oklahoma State in 2020-21, Cunningham averaged 20.2 points per game and earned consensus First Team All-America recognition, Big 12 Player of the Year, Big 12 Freshman of the Year and the Wayman Tisdale Award. The Detroit Pistons then selected him with the first overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft.

Early NBA career and injury return

Cunningham averaged 17.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.6 assists across 64 starts as a rookie and was unanimously selected to the NBA All-Rookie First Team. His second season ended after 12 games when he underwent surgery for a left tibia stress fracture in December 2022. After returning, he averaged 22.7 points and 7.5 assists in 2023-24, then raised those figures to career highs of 26.1 points and 9.1 assists in 2024-25 as Detroit finished 44-38.

All-Star and All-NBA recognition

Cunningham received his first NBA All-Star selection and was named to the All-NBA Third Team in 2024-25. In 2025-26, he became an All-Star starter and earned All-NBA First Team honors after averaging 23.9 points, 9.9 assists and 5.5 rebounds in 64 regular-season appearances. A collapsed left lung caused a 12-game absence, but the NBA and National Basketball Players Association found him eligible for annual awards under the collective bargaining agreement's extraordinary-circumstances provision.

Affiliations

Detroit Pistons Guard 2021-07-29–present
Oklahoma State Cowboys Men's basketball player 2020–2021

Timeline

2019-07-07 Won the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup with the United States and scored a team-high 21 points in the final against Mali.
2021 Earned consensus First Team All-America recognition, Big 12 Player and Freshman of the Year, and the Wayman Tisdale Award at Oklahoma State.
2021-07-29 Selected first overall by the Detroit Pistons in the NBA Draft.
2022-05-19 Unanimously selected to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.
2024-07 Agreed to a five-year maximum rookie-scale contract extension with Detroit.
2025-01-30 Selected for his first NBA All-Star Game.
2025-05-23 Named to the All-NBA Third Team for his first All-NBA selection.
2026-05-24 Named to the All-NBA First Team.

Additional verified details

Current context

Cunningham is listed as a Detroit Pistons guard wearing number 2. Roster status is time-sensitive and should be rechecked after future transactions.
His five-year maximum rookie-scale extension with Detroit covers the 2025-26 through 2029-30 seasons. The official source establishes the term and maximum structure; no fixed aggregate dollar figure is stated because cap-linked escalators affected early projections.
Cunningham has two NBA All-Star selections and two All-NBA selections, most recently All-NBA First Team in 2025-26.
In the completed 2025-26 regular season, Cunningham averaged 23.9 points, 9.9 assists and 5.5 rebounds in 64 appearances, finishing second in the NBA in assists per game. These statistics describe the completed 2025-26 regular season, not a live or projected season.
A collapsed left lung diagnosed after a March 17, 2026 game resulted in a 12-game absence and an extraordinary-circumstances awards-eligibility ruling by the NBA and NBPA. This records a past injury and administrative ruling and does not assert Cunningham's present medical condition.

Biographical facts

Cunningham was born on September 25, 2001. USA Basketball identifies him as American and from Arlington, Texas.
He attended Montverde Academy in Florida before enrolling at Oklahoma State.
Cunningham received the 2020 Naismith Boys High School Player of the Year award while at Montverde Academy.
In 2020-21, he averaged 20.2 points per game at Oklahoma State, earned consensus First Team All-America recognition and won Big 12 Player of the Year, Big 12 Freshman of the Year and the Wayman Tisdale Award.
As an NBA rookie in 2021-22, Cunningham averaged 17.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.6 assists over 64 starts and was unanimously selected to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.
His second NBA season ended after 12 games when he underwent surgery on December 16, 2022, for a stress fracture in his left tibia.
After returning from the tibia injury, Cunningham averaged 22.7 points, 7.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds in 62 games during the 2023-24 season.
In 2024-25, he averaged career highs of 26.1 points and 9.1 assists, along with 6.1 rebounds, as Detroit finished 44-38.