Inside the Detroit Pistons’ Swift Rise From the Bottom to the Top

From a dismal 14-game winning season to a playoff spot a year later, the Detroit Pistons are continuing their rise.

Jan 30, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Detroit Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff reacts after a play against the Golden State Warriors in the fourth quarter at the Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images | Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

When you flick through the Detroit Pistons regular season records from 2020 to now, you notice a rapid shift midway through, and one man is at the heart of it all.

Yes, basketball is a team sport, and there are other contributors to the Pistons’ rise to the top of the East following years of languishing in the basement, but it’s hard to deny the sole component of their current success.

Cade Cunningham lived in the NBA’s basement for his first three seasons, and for 28 consecutive nights in 2023, he and the Pistons were at rock bottom, with a season-ending record of 14-68, their fifth straight losing season.

And yet, through it all, Cunningham never surrendered - believed in himself, and in the Detroit Pistons.

“My goal is not to put myself out there. My goal is to help the Pistons win,” Cunningham said.

Once you hit rock bottom, the only way is up

From that forgettable campaign, Cunningham’s belief never faded, and his motivation spread to his teammates, who also bought into the idea – and a fact to them - that the Pistons could be successful.

What began as an NBA-record 28-game losing streak in a forgettable 2023-24 season slowly began to transform. First, in small steps, a 44-38 bounce-back year saw them reach the playoffs. Then real strides that the league would struggle to ignore.

Fast forward two years, and the Pistons have won 11 straight games, sit atop the Eastern Conference standings early in the 2025-26 season, and have their answer about Cunningham.

From the moment he was selected No. 1 overall in 2021, even during the franchise’s darkest stretches, Cunningham left clues. They all pointed to the same conclusion: He is a franchise-changer. That is gold dust in the NBA.

What makes it more mindblowing is that Cunningham doesn’t fit the typical “superstar”. He isn’t a once-in-a-generation player. It’s his obvious talent, the combination of skill and substance, the intangibles, that make him stand out.

And, he’s making the Pistons stand out.

Cunningham averages 25.4 points, 9.7 assists and 5.6 rebounds per game this season, and is set to become the first All Star out of Detroit since Allen Iverson in 2009. A joy to watch, but ridiculously humble at the same time.

“I think where you see his growth is that he’s open-minded about what’s in front if him and not just thinking about his own perspective,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said.

“I marvel at how a guy his age is able to handle his teammates the way he does, a guy who could very easily could separate himself from the group.

“But he never does. He’s always the one pulling people together. Never wants to be treated any differently. There’s nothing better than that from a superstar.”