Andscape has previously published the diaries of many NBA players, such as Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, NBA retired star and dunk contest champion Vince Carter, Atlanta Eagles rising star guard Trey Young, Warriors young center James Wiseman, Toronto Raptors guard VanVleet, Sacramento Kings guard Fox and Detroit guard Josh Jackson. This season we will follow the Pistons' 2021 champion Corningham into his NBA life.
Through this diary, we can understand everything about the 20-year-old's success, fun and challenges after being selected, on and off the field. He's not just an NBA rising star from Ellington, Texas, but also the father of a 3-year-old girl.
Cunningham has averaged 17.4 points per game for all rookies this season, and the 1.98-meter-tall and 100-kilogram Champion can also deliver 5.6 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game. He won the MVP of the 2022 All-Star Weekend Rookie Challenge and is a strong contender for the Rookie of the Year award. Cunningham believes he can be the best rookie, and he will give his reasons later.
Of course, this year has not been smooth for him, he missed some games at the beginning of the season because of an ankle injury, and also lost some opportunities to express himself because of the trigger health and agreement, this year he is more tasting the bitterness of defeat than the joy of victory. Detroit's record for the year was 23-59, and there were 14 consecutive dark days.
On Tuesday, a day after the Pistons officially ended their 21-22 season, the former Oklahoma State star published his seventh NBA diary at Andscape.
"I deserve to be named Rookie of the Year because I've done so much on such a high-level field."
I think I deserve to be named Rookie of the Year because I have the ability to do everything for my team this year. I feel like I'm contributing to my team in a lot of different ways, and those things probably don't bring every game to the team. But if you've watched my game, if you've looked closely at the way I play, you'll appreciate what I've done on the pitch. I deserve to be named Rookie of the Year because I've done so much on such a high-level field.
When I sounded the final whistle in my first season in the NBA, I was crazy at the thought that I was actually playing in the NBA now. When the first year finally came to an end, there were a lot of different emotions flowing inside me, and I went through all the things that a rookie could experience in the first year, but there was no doubt that it was a good season. I would say that the biggest climax of this year's plot is that we finally found a way to win, especially after the All-Star Game, we had a winning streak and started to win continuously, and that was the best time of the year.
The worst part was, of course, the days of the losing streak, and we were trying to win the game, but there were several games where we felt like we couldn't win at all, and the feeling of powerlessness made me miserable to the bone. It's a really bad feeling to be beaten up by my opponent every night, but it's a very important part of my growth and development.
I believe I have earned the respect of my teammates because I didn't run away from the challenge, came to Detroit, and was always being myself. I'm not trying to impose my thoughts on anyone or force others to recognize my leadership. I'm confident in who I am and what kind of player I want to be. I said something I felt had to say, and then I asked my teammates to solve the problem themselves at the right time. I don't try to suppress anyone, and over time they started to respect my approach and liked the way I led the team.
Eventually, they will follow my heart and willingly follow me. I didn't force anyone to approve of my leadership, but they naturally understood that, and I tried to get them to understand the fact that I'm happy to be a part of the locker room, that I'm a new person, and that just playing in the NBA is a blessing. More importantly, I try to make myself and my teammates have fun and socialize with everyone on the basis that everyone is happy.
I've learned a lot this season. I learned that the voice outside the dressing room, outside the coaching staff, didn't matter to me, and what they said about me was of no value at all. These outsiders' opinions did not affect my confidence, I only focused on our team and thought about what everyone needed me to do. Once you let your attention spread out of the circle and pay attention to the opinions of outsiders, their ideas will affect and limit your game. I tried to keep myself focused on basketball, and I learned that only hard work can get you out of the trough. Whenever you're stuck, work hard, and the way out will soon be before your eyes. I would say that this is my biggest takeaway this year – working hard, keeping faith in yourself, not caring about what other people say and say, work will get you out of everything.
I'm definitely going to keep training this offseason to make myself stronger and more confrontational. I'll try to get more calories. I still have a lot of techniques to strengthen, projection, possession, passing, and I hope that I can continue to improve in all aspects. Anyway, I'll keep working hard, that's for sure.
The theme of next season is to win. Everyone in our dressing room has found their niche and I've been telling you that the reason we've had to go through such a tough year and keep doing it every day is to keep the desire to win every game. I, Sadik Bay, Stewart, we are the core part of this young team, and several of us have been communicating, encouraging and urging each other to ensure that we are constantly working hard every day.
Our general manager Weaver has a clear team building plan in mind, and I am very confident in his plan. If someone asks me about Detroit, I'll tell them what the real Detroit is like, and I'll do the promotion for the city because I love playing for the Pistons. I'm sure others will be willing to come to Detroit and join us, because here he will have the unreserved support of all of us. I believe Weaver can find the right players for the team, and I believe that our "Big Three" – Sadiq Bay, Grant and I – will stay with the team for a long time. Weaver will take care of everything, all we have to do is keep working hard to make sure we're always improving, and next year, I'm going to start a whole new journey with my teammates.
I love the rookies of 2022, there are a lot of really good players this year, a lot of them have the ability to be in the league right away, to be an important part of most teams, and this is a rookie who is quite good at immediate combat. I'm looking forward to seeing who the team will pick with a high pick, and I'm sure Weaver and his colleagues will bring us a suitable candidate to add some weight to what we're working on."
There aren't a lot of people of color in the league here, and there aren't a lot of blacks who get the reins of the team, so it's great for me to work with a black coach (Casey) and a black general manager. I'm very happy with the trend of more and more black managers in the league now. For me, it's a really cool thing to be able to work around people who have achieved so much. When I was in college, the team manager was also black, and we had a great communication between us, and he would really think about me. I'm so happy that I've met these people along the way and spent so much quality time with them.
My daughter loves Disney and I want to take her to Disneyland this summer. She loves Minnie Mouse and loves all the princesses of Disney. She's an avid Disney fan and loves every one of their stories. I would also spend a vacation with my family at a beach house in South Carolina during the offseason, which was my aunt and uncle's house. Since I was a child, my family has maintained the family tradition of going there once a year for vacation.
Aside from that, I won't be going to many places this summer because I need to spend more time at work. Guys, I need to get stronger. Oh, I want to sneak up on a beach town in North Michigan, I've heard it's really great, maybe I'll go there soon, maybe we'll meet there, what's going to happen then? I'm really excited. Well, the holidays are on, relax a little, and then start working hard!
Marc J. Spears & Cade Cunningham
Compilation: Best Fifteenth Man