By james art 
Cade Cunningham is having the best season of his career in every way. The fourth-string point guard is averaging 24.9 points, 9.4 assists and 6.5 rebounds per game while leading his Detroit Pistons to a 23-22 record, which is currently good for sixth in the Eastern Conference. Many believed the Oklahoma State scholarship player had done enough to secure an All-Star starting spot, but his snub led Gilbert Arenas to make some controversial comments about his marketability in Detroit.
Arenas took his Gil’s Arena podcast to acknowledge how well Cade has played this season, but also said the young star would be much better off in a bigger market. Arenas has said words to that effect before, and Pistons coach JB Bickerstaff actually responded to him in a recent postgame press conference.
Bickerstaff cited guys like Kevin Durant and Tim Duncan who have thrived in smaller markets, and he rattled off a slew of Pistons greats like Isaiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Chauncey Billups and Ben Wallace, whose places in history are assured after bringing home championships. Motor City titles.
Arenas responded by using himself and his own career as an example.
“Tim Duncan, the best forward, right? And most people, when we talk about the top five, they forget to mention it because you just forget about it, right? Chauncey Billups too, right? Now I was with Chauncey Billups after he won a championship with Adidas, and Tim Duncan was already a three-four-time All-Star. I sold more shoes than them. I was more popular than them.
Arenas then cited Donovan Mitchell, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic as current examples of players who are great but don’t get the recognition or shoe sales they would in a bigger market.
Gilbert Arenas has proven his priorities wrong when it comes to NBA stardom
Arenas is focusing on completely the wrong things in this conversation. Tim Duncan won five titles, is in the Hall of Fame and made $80 million more in his career than Arenas. SGA will likely sign a super-max extension this summer that will pay him nearly $300 million over four years. Why does it matter how many shoes he sells?
He conveniently leaves out guys like Giannis, who have thrived in smaller markets but are still hugely popular. The Greek Freak is the 7th most followed player on Instagram among active NBA players.
The fact is, Cade Cunningham is having an excellent season and could become a legend if, like Thomas and Billups before him, he can one day lead the Pistons to a championship. He will make hundreds of millions in his career whether he plays for Detroit, New York or a new franchise in Wyoming.
Being in a big market is no guarantee of success. Just ask Kawhi Leonard, who did nothing with the Clippers after flourishing in San Antonio and Toronto. On the contrary, he has seen his reputation take a hit because his failures are compounded by the additional eyes on him.
Cade Cunningham just needs to keep doing what he’s doing and success will follow.