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Pistons’ Cade Cunningham Leads LeBron James in Unique NBA Stat

Cade Cunningham leads former No. 1 overall picks in playmaking.
Justin Grasso|
Nov 4, 2024; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) is defended by Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) in the second half at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images
Nov 4, 2024; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) is defended by Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) in the second half at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

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Over the weekend, Cade Cunningham wrapped up his first NBA All-Star Game with a five-minute showing in the newly implemented tournament. Now, it’s back to work, focusing on the Detroit Pistons.

As Cunningham enters the final stretch of the 2024-2025 NBA season, he leads the league in a unique statistic, sitting above prominent players like Los Angeles’ LeBron James and Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards.

According to Statmuse, Cunningham’s 470 assists this season are the most for a former No. 1 overall pick in the NBA this year.

LeBron James comes in at second with 431 assists in 48 games. Not only are Cunningham and LeBron the only two in that category with over 250 assists, but they have nearly doubled everybody in the top five.

Beyond Edwards is LA Clippers’ Ben Simmons, Dallas’ Kyrie Irving, San Antononio’s Victor Wembanyama, New York’s Karl Anthony-Towns, Dallas’ Anthony Davis, Miami’s Andrew Wiggins, and Orlando’s Paolo Banchero.

Outside of the former No. 1 overall pick category, Cunningham fares well across the league in the assists department, with everybody included. Coming out of the All-Star break, Cunningham ranks third overall in assists per game with 9.4. He sits behind Denver’s Nikola Jokic and Atlanta’s Trae Young.

Cunningham might be too far behind to catch Young, who is on pace to win the passing title for the 2024-2025 season, but the young guard’s continued progress in several areas of his game is a great sign for the Pistons, who invested big in Cunningham over the summer.

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Justin Grasso
JUSTIN GRASSO

Justin Grasso was a credentialed writer and publisher covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s 76ers On SI Network. Grasso got his start in sports media in 2016 with FantasyPros, working the news desk, providing game-by-game player analysis and updates on the Portland Trail Blazers and the Golden State Warriors. By 2017, he joined FanSided’s Philadelphia Eagles site as a staff writer. After spending one season covering the Eagles as a staff writer, Grasso was promoted to become the site’s Co-Editor. For the next two NFL seasons, he covered the Eagles closely before broadening his NFL coverage. For a brief stint, Grasso covered the NFL on a national basis after joining Heavy.com as an NFL news desk writer. In 2019, Grasso joined the 76ers' beat on a part-time basis, stepping into a role with South Jersey’s 97.3 ESPN. Ahead of the 2019-2020 NBA season, he concluded a three-year stint covering the Eagles and joined the Sixers beat full-time. Grasso has covered the 76ers exclusively since then for Sports Illustrated. He is a member of the Pro Basketball Writers Association. Twitter: @JGrasso_ Instagram: @JGrassoMedia

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