Losing teams are fascinating.
Winning teams are more fun, for sure, but they’re also incredibly phony. It’s easy to act like everyone gets along when you’re winning. It’s easy to hide most blemishes. It’s, honestly, even a little bit boring.
There’s really only one way to win. You celebrate, you give thanks — typically to God, teammates and family — and you can pretend there are never any problems behind the scenes.
Losing is where it’s at. It’s where you learn about professional athletes as humans. Take an exceptional athlete who has won at every level their entire lives and put them onto a team that hasn’t won in months at the absolute highest level and you’re essentially stripping them down to the studs.
There are so many ways to lose. So many different reactions and so few ways to hide. Though, let’s be clear, hiding also teaches you plenty about a person.
Cade Cunningham is standing front and center. He’s angry. He’s in disbelief. He’s exhausted. But he’s still here answering every question.
For 27 consecutive games he’s taken the floor for the Detroit Pistons in a losing effort and for 27 consecutive games he’s owned up to it, even when it’s not his fault.
Tuesday was certainly not his fault. Staring down an an NBA record losing streak, Cunningham did everything he could to pull out of victory for Detroit. He scored 41 points on 15-for-21 shooting from the field with nine rebounds and came up with big play after big play despite the Brooklyn Nets successfully holding off the Pistons on the road.
It would’ve been understandable if Cunningham didn’t want to talk after the 118-112 loss. Instead he showed more maturity and grace than most 22-year-olds are capable of.
Cunningham — one of the youngest players on the team — is telling the locker room to hang tough and “don’t jump off the boat”.
“Everyday, I try to lead the squad,” Cunningham said. “I haven’t been successful with that. Two-and-28. I just felt like it’s only right that I come up and can speak for it, be the face for it. That locker room and everybody in there cares a lot. Everybody’s trying to do everything they can to win games and be successful. I put a lot of that weight on myself, for sure.”
Compared to how others in the organization — *cough, cough* owner Tom Gores — have taken responsibility for the streak, it sure is something to see Cunningham put this on himself. There was no mention of moral victories, just harsh truth and serious perspective.
And if that doesn’t make you want to root for him, if that doesn’t teach you something about Cunningham that winning never could, that’s fine, too.
Sports are an escape, after all. But it’s also not realistic. Good times don’t last. Good attitudes do. Detroit will win again, eventually and everyone will act like they get along and love each other and all that.
Just don’t forget what we learned about Cade along the way.
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