The NBA is a league facing numerous issues as the league reemerges from the All-Star break Thursday. There is, of course, the rampant tanking that has the race to the bottom rivaling the playoff race in scope. On a more existential level, there is the ongoing gambling scandal that has implicated multiple players in recent years.
For Pistons superstar Cade Cunningham, an emergent MVP candidate this season, the biggest issue facing the league is far simpler and one that has been on the minds of players and fans for years: flopping and foul-baiting.
Cunningham shared his thoughts as the subject of a GQ profile published Thursday. While the mild-mannered guard wasn’t willing to call out some of his rivals directly, he said that some of the league’s top players are guilty of playing for fouls and flopping and that he buys into the idea that certain superstar players get a different whistle than others.
“The referees have to get involved because we’re baiting people into fouls all the time,” Cunningham said. “The flopping is just too much.”
Cunningham added that he believes that “three of the top five, 10 guys” in the league are guilty of constantly baiting fouls, and doesn’t know whether it is feasible to implement a more punitive system to punish the act.
Cunningham asked about the Thunder and reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a superstar who has nevertheless earned a reputation as a “free throw merchant” while his team is allowed to play a physical brand of defense.
“You can’t hack them. It’s tough. If I win a championship—when I win the championship—I’m going to want the same type [of whistle]. I want to be able to foul people and they can’t foul me!” Cunningham said. “You have to ref the game for what you’re seeing, not reputations or any other stuff. It doesn’t get reffed that way.”
Meanwhile, Cunningham claims that he “can’t sell a foul for nothing,” and that he values his reputation as an “ethical hooper.”
Whether or not they get the Thunder treatment, Cade Cunningham and the Pistons are thriving
Just two years removed from a dreadful 14–68 campaign in Cunningham’s third NBA season, Detroit looks like a true NBA Final contender.
Mannix: From 14 Wins to NBA Title Contender: How the Pistons Found Their Identity
At 40–13, the Pistons have solid control of the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, 5 1/2 games clear of the second-place Celtics, and are just one game worse than Oklahoma City in the loss column.
Cunningham is at the center of that success.
After a breakout 2024–25 season in which he made his first All-Star Game and Detroit returned to the postseason for the first time since 2019, his counting stats are a bit down from last year but his efficiency marks are up across the board. As the Pistons hurtle towards the No. 1 seed in the East, ethical basketball seems to be working just fine.
Detroit returns from the All-Star break on Thursday night with a road game against one of their chief rivals for that top seed, the Knicks, at 7:30 p.m. ET.
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