NBA star Cade Cunningham of the Detroit Pistons has come a long way in his five-year NBA career.
Now, as he nears the pinnacle of his profession, he knows who to thank for his blessings.
During the NBA’s All-Star Game festivities over the weekend, Cunningham turned a reporter’s inane, borderline sycophantic-sounding question into an opportunity to praise Jesus.
“Cade,” the reporter said in a clip posted to the social media platform X. “You’re so tough, man. I mean, look at your dressing right now. You move so tough. You look so tough. Where do you get your aura from, and like, how can I get some?”
Rather than embarrass the reporter for his asinine question, Cunningham used it for good.
“Man, I get my aura from Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior,” the star point guard replied. “God blessed me with parents that raised me in a way that I wouldn’t trade for the world.”
Reporter: Where do you get your aura from?
Detroit Pistons PG Cade Cunningham: “I get my aura from Jesus Christ – my Lord and Savior. God blessed me with parents who raised me in a way I wouldn’t trade for the world.”
— Jon Root (@JonnyRoot_) February 16, 2026
For readers who do not follow professional basketball, Cunningham currently ranks as one of the NBA’s best players.
The first overall pick of the Pistons in the 2021 draft out of Oklahoma State, Cunningham has averaged 25.3 points and 9.6 assists per game this season, both of which rank among the league leaders.
But things have not always gone smoothly for the young star.
In 2022-23, for instance, Cunningham played only 12 games due to a stress fracture in his left leg, per ESPN.
Then, in the 2023-24 season, Cunningham’s Pistons tied an NBA record with 28 consecutive losses. That team, featuring Cunningham and second-year center Jalen Duren, finished an abysmal 14-68 on the season.
Things began to turn in 2024-25, however, when Cunningham made the All-NBA team and the Pistons made the playoffs.
Now, in 2025-26, Detroit sits at 40-13 and atop the Eastern Conference, five-and-a-half games clear of the second-place Boston Celtics.
In other words, the best player on the team with the NBA’s best record (.005 percentage points over the defending-champion Oklahoma City Thunder of the Western Conference) just glorified Jesus in front of the basketball world.
Recently, professional athletes have proclaimed their Christian faith in greater numbers than they once did. But this phenomenon has appeared more prevalent in the NFL and MLB than in the NBA.
In fact, with a handful of laudable exceptions, most of what has emerged from the NBA in recent years amounts to woke trash.
We may thank Cunningham, therefore, for modeling Christian humility in a league that desperately needs it.
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