With The Tonight Show filming in Detroit, Cade Cunningham was a featured guest
On Sunday night, Detroit played host to a special edition of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon for an episode that was filmed at the Detroit Opera House. Falling in line with the Motown theme of the night, Fallon brought on Pistons star point guard Cade Cunningham as a premier guest, and the pair were joined by Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson to boot.
With Cunningham in a bit of the limelight, Fallon touched upon what makes Detroit not only just a unique city but the perfect venue for a rendition of The Tonight Show’s caliber. Cunningham, who is entering his fifth year in Detroit with the Pistons, was able to elaborate further on what makes the Motor City so special.
“There’s so many things about it.” Cunningham began. “I think [of] the passion, for one. The passion, this is like the most passionate city that I think you can find sports-wise. For sure. I think we have the iciest, best-looking city too, though… You come to a Pistons game, everybody– they dress well. They cheer hard. It’s just different.”
So far in his NBA career, Cunningham has embraced Detroit and its hard-working nature, even going a step further to use that identity as part of the Pistons’ mantra en route to the playoffs last season. Clearly, Cunningham has helped change the culture of basketball in Detroit back to its roots, and the Oklahoma State product experienced a culture change of his own when he was selected No. 1 overall by the Pistons back in the 2021 NBA Draft.
“I was so happy, man,” Cunningham recalled. “I was. I’m from Texas, so Michigan is like, it’s very different. But I think the culture, like the Pistons [are] such a historic franchise. I just wanted to be part of that, you know?”
As Cunningham alluded to, Detroit is a basketball franchise that is rich with history and pride. From the Bad Boys to the Go To Work days of the Pistons, the fanbase has stood behind its team each step of the way, which is a trend that is expected to continue now that the Pistons look to reach the postseason for the second consecutive year.
“We’re on the way up,” Cunningham said. “I mean, I feel great. There’s so many things, you know? I think the start of that has to be Trajan Langdon, J.B. Bickerstaff first and foremost. They came in and brought a structure to us and just another hunger that really, I think, helped guide us. We had a horrible year the year before they got here. So, everybody, we all had a chip on our shoulder, and we bring in two guys like that who also have a chip on their shoulder
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With a lot of due credit going to the front office, Cunningham has taken Langdon and Bickerstaff’s leadership and incorporated it with his own innate initiative to improve the Pistons.
From a personal standpoint, Cunningham has improved a lot on his own and developed into a very well-rounded basketball player, landing on the All-NBA third team for the 2024-25 season.
The Detroit Pistons open the regular season with a road game against the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday, Oct. 22.
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