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https://t.co/1IMXYX3h73

FOLLOWING A SIX-POINT loss to the Brooklyn Nets, the Detroit Pistons had just se
t the all-time mark for consecutive losses in a single season in NBA history, dr
opping 27 in a row. It was Dec. 26, 2023. Inside the locker room, the mood was s
omber and quiet -- apathy a constant threat to seep into a season well on pace t
o becoming the worst in NBA history. Cade Cunningham, the team's 22-year-old cor
nerstone, spoke first.

"Don't jump off the boat," he said. " Right now is the easiest time to stand off
 and be on your own, but we need to continue to lean on each other and continue
to push each other and hold each other accountable more than ever now."



「不要在這時候放棄（Don’t Jump off the boat）」他說道：「現在是最容易退縮並選擇
獨善其身的時候，但我們需要繼續依靠彼此，繼續互相激勵，比以往更加互相負責。」

There's perhaps no player in the league who would know better. After being selec
ted No. 1 in the 2021 NBA draft, he had endured a miserable 23-win rookie campai
gn and an injury-marred 17 wins the following year, and he was now in the middle
 of a season that was breaking all the wrong records.

And after enduring the worst record in franchise history last season, at 14-68,
Cunningham carries those low moments with him as he leads a miraculous Pistons t
urnaround this year, quieting what might remain of any bust talk as a heavy favo
rite to win the NBA's Most Improved Player.





在經歷了球隊歷史最糟戰績（14 勝 68 負）的上一個賽季後，Cunningham 扛著這些低谷時
刻，帶領著今年的活塞完成奇蹟般的逆襲。
，他幾乎已經鎖定 NBA 最佳進步球員獎，讓過去認為他是「水貨狀元」的質疑聲音逐漸消
散。

"There was a time where I didn't give them much else to think," Cunningham told
ESPN, when asked about the early bust talk. "But I felt support since day one be
ing here, though, and more than anything I wanted to hold up my end of the barga
in."

Detroit is 42-32 this season entering Wednesday's showdown with the West-leading
 Oklahoma City Thunder (9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN), making the Pistons the first team
 in NBA history to triple their win total from the previous season, excluding th
e two lockout seasons in 1998-99 and 2011-12, per ESPN Research.

Cunningham is averaging career highs in points per game (25.7), assists per game
 (9.2) and field goal percentage (46.2%). He has a chance to become the first Pi
stons player to average 25 points per game in a season since Jerry Stackhouse in
 2000-01, when he set the franchise record with 29.8 PPG.




本賽季，活塞在週三與西區領頭羊雷霆對決前戰績為 42 勝 32 負，成為 NBA 歷史上第一
支（不包括 1998-99 和 2011-12 兩個縮水賽季）勝場數比上賽季增加三倍的球隊。




"I don't think people are giving him his full respect," New Orleans Pelicans for
ward Zion Williamson, another former No. 1 pick, told ESPN. "In my opinion, he's
 an All-NBA player this year. He's been doing his thing, but from watching Cade
from afar and my few interactions with him, he's somebody that's gonna let his w
ork speak for him."

That work could make Cunningham the third player in Pistons history to average n
ine or more assists per game in a season, joining Isiah Thomas (six times) and K
evin Porter (13.4 in 1978-79), and the first to have a 25-9 season.

His goals are much higher, however.







但他的目標遠不止於此。


"I think I can be the best basketball player in the world. I think I'm on my way
," Cunningham said. "I want people to understand that and that's what I'm workin
g to show people every time I play."


「我認為我可以成為世界上最強的籃球員，我想我也正在朝著這個方向前進，我希望大家都
能夠認識到這一點，而我也會努力用每一場比賽來證明。」

WITH FIVE SECONDS remaining in regulation, Detroit Lions All-Pro receiver Amon-R
a St. Brown pulled out his phone, hoping to capture the scene from his courtside
 seat in Miami. It was March 19. The Pistons and Heat were tied 113-113.

As he pressed record, he told his girlfriend, Brooklyn Adams, and Lions teammate
 Craig Reynolds, how he had never witnessed the Pistons win in person..

Pistons veteran Tim Hardaway Jr. inbounded the ball to Cunningham in the waning
seconds, and as Cunningham broke free, he launched a 25-foot 3 that banked in to
 give the Pistons the improbable win at the buzzer.

Cunningham raised his No. 2 Pistons jersey in front of the Kaseya Center crowd i
n jubilation.

He had finished with a triple-double, with 25 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists
 in the victory.




他開始錄影，對女友 Brooklyn Adams 和隊友 Craig Reynolds 說，他從未現場親眼見證過
活塞在比賽中獲勝。

活塞的老將 Tim Hardaway Jr. 在最後時刻發底線球給 Cunningham。Cunningham 擺脫防守


Former Pistons two-time All-Star Andre Drummond, now with the Philadelphia 76ers
, posted the viral image of Cunningham.

Drummond still roots for Detroit. He was part of the most recent Pistons team to
 reach the playoffs in 2018-19, and he has said he wants to someday retire in De
troit.

"This is amazing to see Detroit win. People actually look at me crazy for postin
g or liking stuff in Detroit, but it's, like, Detroit's my home," Drummond told
ESPN. "To see the success of the city of what's going with the team, I almost fe
el like I'm a part of it even though I don't play for the team."


活塞曾經的兩屆全明星中鋒Andre Drummond（現效力於76人）隨後在社群媒體上發布了這張
 Cunningham 的爆紅照片。

https://i.imgur.com/dt6KGzs.jpeg

Drummond 仍然心繫活塞，他是活塞上次打進季後賽（2018-19）時陣中的球員之一，並表示
自己希望有一天能在活塞退役。



St. Brown, a fourth-round selection in the 2021 NFL draft, also relates to Cunni
ngham's rise. The Lions have ascended from a 3-13-1 season in 2021 to a record-s
etting 15-win season in 2024.

"Obviously, it's different sports but we've kind of had the same journey, in ter
ms of just team success. I feel like I know exactly how it feels," St. Brown sai
d.

"I'm glad to watch it and to be able to sit back and to see them come from reall
y nothing to being a solid team right now. I see myself and the Lions in them a
lot."




「我知道這是不同的運動，但就球隊的成功歷程而言，我們的旅程其實很相似，我完全能夠
理解這種感覺」St. Brown 說道：

「我很高興能夠見證這一切，看到他們從低谷走到如今成為一支實力堅強的球隊，讓我覺得
自己和雄獅的經歷與他們有很多相似之處。」

It didn't take long for Cunningham to win over the long-frustrated Detroit fan b
ase. On draft night, he broke out a pair of Cartier sunglasses, known around tow
n as "Buffs," which is an iconic fashion piece in the city.

He learned about the city's culture through popular rappers like 42 Dugg, Sada B
aby and Babyface Ray, as well as the underground movie scene and through the Tub
i TV show McGraw Ave. When the league announced that Cunningham was named to his
 first NBA All-Star game in January, 42 Dugg was one of the first to share the n
ews.

"I feel like Cade fits more into the culture with all of us being young and up a
nd coming," 42 Dugg said. "He fits more into us. We've seen Cade out a few times
. He gives us more of something to root for. We're all behind Cade."

Cunningham 很快就贏得了長期受挫的活塞球迷的心。在選秀之夜，他戴上了一副 Cartier
太陽眼鏡，也就是當地人熟知的「Buffs」，這是這座城市標誌性的時尚單品。



「我覺得 Cade 和我們這群年輕新興勢力更契合」42 Dugg 說道：「他就是我們的一分子。
我們偶爾會在外面看到他，他讓我們有支持的對象，我們都在他的身後支持他。」


Cunningham has nine triple-doubles this season, third-most in Pistons history be
hind NBA legend Grant Hill, who posted 13 in 1996-97 and 10 in 1995-96.

No other player in Pistons history has ever had five in a season.

Cunningham's style has often been compared to Hill's before injuries robbed him
of peak.

Hill, the managing director of the USA men's national team, doesn't mind hearing
 his name attached to a rising star such as Cunningham, who he sees as a strong
candidate for the FIBA World Cup and Olympics during the next cycle.

"I think there's some similarities in terms of trying to just control the game a
nd trying to have an impact on the game in a number of different ways," Hill tol
d ESPN.

"He thinks the game at a very high level, and he's got just this incredible feel
 and incredible basketball instincts, and I do feel like those were some of the
similarities that we brought to the game."



Cunningham 的球風經常被拿來與 Hill 相比，而 Hill 本可能有更輝煌的生涯，但傷病影
響了他的巔峰期。

Hill 目前擔任美國男籃國家隊的總經理，他並不介意自己的名字與這位冉冉升起的球星相
提並論，甚至認為 Cunningham 是未來 FIBA 世界盃和奧運的有力人選。



ASK THOSE AROUND Cunningham for an underrated quality of his game, and the respo
nse is nearly universal. It's the leadership he provided when the losses mounted
, and now, too, when the wins are doing the same.

"Very rarely do you find a guy who can grow and develop and not leave people beh
ind," said Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff ahead of Detroit's 123-103 win over Wa
shington on March 11. "Cade has the uncanny ability to not only take care of him
self and do what's best for his development and growth, but he makes sure that h
is teammates are always right alongside, and giving them the same opportunities
that he's getting."

如果你問身邊的隊友 Cunningham 在比賽中的哪個特點最被低估，他們的回答幾乎都是一致
的——他的領導力。無論是在連敗期間，還是在如今贏球的時候，他的影響力始終存在。




Consider: Cunningham has the third-most points created this season on drives (1,
162), behind MVP front-runner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and New York Knicks guard
Jalen Brunson, according to Second Spectrum.

And he has assisted on 75 3-pointers to teammate Malik Beasley and 84 dunks to P
istons center Jalen Duren, both the most in the NBA respectively by any passer-s
hooter combo, per Second Spectrum.



此外，他本賽季為隊友 Malik Beasley 送出 75 次三分助攻，為隊友 Jalen Duren 送出 8
4 次扣籃助攻，這兩項數據都是全聯盟所有傳球者與射手/扣將搭檔中的最高紀錄。


That potential is why Pistons owner Tom Gores agreed to sign Cunningham to a fiv
e-year, $224 million maximum rookie extension last offseason, a deal that was me
t with questions across the league.

"What I saw in Cade is not something you just see on the court. He embraced the
adversity; he didn't put it on anybody else. He took his own accountability," Go
res told ESPN. "Part of the reason I didn't blink is he didn't blink. He didn't
start like, 'Oh, geez, Detroit.' He was all in.

"And we knew we had to change some things and sometimes you learn the most in th
e tough times ... you go through some war with each other and you see how somebo
dy acts, and I thought he handled it so well in so many ways. So I didn't blink,
 honestly."








Through four seasons, Cunningham has already played for three different head coa
ches: Dwane Casey, Monty Williams and now Bickerstaff.

He missed most of his second season with a stress fracture in his left leg and h
as yet to experience the NBA playoffs, but he says he's having the most fun of h
is career at the helm of Detroit's resurgence.

"Winning. I think that's the main difference for real," Cunningham said. "It's a
 lot of fun winning games. It's not fun losing at all, so playing in meaningful
games and constantly putting ourselves in a position to win has been a lot of fu
n this year."

Duren said: "He's only gonna continue to get better. This is probably the worst
version of him we will see."

在短短四個賽季裡，Cunningham 已經為三位不同的總教練效力過——Dwane Casey、Monty
Williams，以及現在的 Bickerstaff。

他的第二個賽季因左腿應力性骨折幾乎報銷，而且至今還未體驗過 NBA 季後賽，但他表示
，現在的他正處於職業生涯中最快樂的時刻，因為他正在帶領活塞重返正軌。



Duren ：「Cade只會變得更好，現在的Cade可能只是我們見到的最差版本。」



心得：


https://i.imgur.com/MTqMfUc.jpeg


https://i.imgur.com/Wcs3shN.jpeg


That’s the mindset of a number one overall pick.

If you don’t believe you can be the best in the world than no one will.

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