"In the locker room right after the game, he told his teammates, who'd missed twice as many shots as they'd made, not to "jump off the boat." He added, "Right now is the easiest time to stand off and be on your own. We need to continue to lean on each other.""
"That 76ers team had been designed to lose, in order to build draft capital. The Pistons were just . . . losers. They couldn't shoot, couldn't defend, sometimes couldn't even inbound the ball. They had no identity."
Two years ago, the Detroit Pistons and Brooklyn Nets played a meaningless game that became pivotal for Cade Cunningham. Despite scoring thirty-five points in the second half, the Pistons lost 118-112, setting an NBA record with twenty-seven consecutive losses in a single season. Their record fell to 2-28. In the locker room, Cunningham urged teammates not to abandon the team, emphasizing the need to lean on each other during their darkest moment. Days later, the Pistons built a twenty-one-point lead against the defending champion Boston Celtics but lost in overtime. The team struggled fundamentally with shooting, defense, and basic execution, lacking clear identity under coach Monty Williams.
#nba-turnaround #team-resilience #cade-cunningham-leadership #detroit-pistons-transformation #winning-culture
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