Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham has recently become one of the most talked about players in the NBA. Despite his team being in the very last seed of the Western Conference Table, the player has managed to average 22.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 7.4 assists during the current regular season. While his performance has received praise from all sides, his current free throw stats has raised some doubts over what seems to be going wrong with the player.

With the recent Pistons vs Magic game drawing to a close, Cade Cunningham sat down for a Q and A session with various members of the media. During the same, it was highlighted to him that he has managed to accumulate an astonishing 56 points during his last 61 minutes of gameplay and still hasn’t been allowed to take a free throw. When asked if this is a matter of pride for him, Cunningham answered that he takes pride in being a good basketball player. What he doesn’t enjoy, however, is his ability to not “get to the line”.

Despite his best efforts to improve his game, the Pistons star allegedly believes that the referees are not giving him the chance to take even a single trip to the foul line. Being fed up with the fact that he wasn’t getting any calls, Cunningham wondered whether he had to warm up to the referee just to get a piece of the action. “Maybe I need to be nicer. Maybe I need to kiss someone’s a**”, said Cunningham. “I don’t know what it is. I’m working on it. I’m trying to get it.”

The recent game against Orlando was the second instance of Cunningham not being allowed to shoot a free throw, the first being his 30-point outing against the Phoenix Suns a few days ago.

Cunningham and his almost ‘winnable’ performance

Cunningham’s inability to secure a free throw did not in any way cause him to underperform in his match-up against the Magic. By securing 26 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists to his name, he emerged as the lead scorer of the game.

As the Pistons trailed the Orlando Magic by 11 points with 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Cunningham took the charge. By the time only 80 seconds remained on the clock, he had used a midrange jumper to bring his team to 107-109, trailing by just two points. With 12.4 seconds left, Cunningham managed to tie the game. Unfortunately, Magic’s 21-year-old power forward Paolo Banchero managed to execute a three-point play and secure the win for his team.

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NBA fans and enthusiasts may not know the real reason behind Cunningham’s low free throw stats. They do know that if there is anyone who can still manage to bring the Pistons up the points chart, then it is him.

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