When Pistons guard Cade Cunningham’s new six-year deal with Nike was announced earlier this past week, celebrations commenced in Motown as the leading sportswear company made a move to make Detroit’s budding star one of the new faces of the NBA. 

Cunningham is set to have his own signature shoe as part of his new Nike deal, and the pair of sneakers is scheduled to hit the market in the second half of the 2025-26 regular season. Prior to this announcement, Nike only offered signature shoes with a handful of NBA players, so Cunningham will be the sixth active hooper to receive the honor. 

However, former NBA player and three-time All-Star Gilbert Arenas, who is busy appearing on podcasts and talk shows lately, offered a word of caution for Pistons fans about what the future may hold for Cunningham. 

“If you’re a Detroit Pistons fan, you should be worried a little bit, a little bit because it is not Puma,” Arenas said. “This ain’t Anta. This is Nike. Nike is the sponsor of the NBA. Nike has its own agenda, right? And I’m pretty sure Cade staying in Detroit ain’t part of their agenda if they sense that this is their guard.”

Now, Arenas is speaking more to the business side of basketball than the on-court product, but they’re essentially intertwined. Arenas is implying that Nike may attempt to persuade Cunningham to think about switching teams if he runs into difficulty competing at the highest level for the Pistons. 

“They’re going to want to mass produce his shoes and move units and do that. You want Cade to win championships and all that and kind of stay there because it offsets everything, but when they start losing and stuff? As long as he’s winning championships and winning in Detroit at a high level, Nike is cool with him staying there. When they start having down years, they are going to move that product to a big company.” 

Do not rush to ring the alarm bells just yet, though, since Cunningham currently has the Pistons standing atop the Eastern Conference in 1st place at 13-2. The Cunningham-led Pistons are currently riding an 11-game winning streak, and they’ve accomplished such a feat with a rotating contingent of players injured in each game this season. 

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While Arenas is not incorrect in mentioning that Nike would most likely prefer for Cunningham to play for a big market team, Cade has an overwhelming amount of belief in the project that he started in Detroit five years ago. Cunningham was unfortunately a first-hand witness for the Pistons’ well-documented struggles two seasons ago, and he has operated as the catalyst for Detroit’s remarkable turnaround, one that has positioned the team to compete for the Eastern Conference crown. 

Also, it is worth noting that Cunningham has a sense of drive and determination that is not easily shaken. Cunningham has shown a tendency to remain cool under pressure late in games (Cade leads the NBA in fourth quarter scoring), and the All-Star shows a similar resolve in his principles and the way he carries himself. So, it’s far from a given that corporate desire could influence Cunningham away from the only NBA team he’s ever known in the first place. 

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This weekend, Cunningham will have an opportunity to help the Pistons push their winning streak to 12 games when Detroit takes on the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, Nov. 22 at 8 pm.

For more information on the latest Detroit Pistons team or player news, follow @EricJRutter on X for continued basketball coverage. Also be sure to look up Roundtable - Michigan Men Media on Facebook for continued social media coverage of all the sporting teams in the Mitten.