Cade Cunningham Becomes Oklahoma State's First All-NBA Selection

Oklahoma State’s best NBA player was once again honored for his best NBA season.

On Friday night, the NBA announced the All-NBA teams for the 2024-25 season, with former Cowboy Cade Cunningham earning a spot on the All-NBA Third Team. He also finished as a finalist for Most Improved Player and earned his first All-Star appearance, making Cunningham’s 2025 an incredible success.

This season, Cunningham averaged 26.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 9.1 assists as he emerged as one of the best young guards in the league. Cunningham is on the verge of superstardom after his fourth year and proved that throughout the season and into the playoffs.

While Cunningham’s Detroit Pistons lost in the first round to the New York Knicks, the star guard did everything he could to keep his team’s season going. In his first playoff run, Cunningham averaged 25 points, 8.3 rebounds and 8.7 assists across six games.

Cunningham’s ascension to becoming one of the top guards in the NBA was expected, but it still took a difficult path to get there. Over his first three seasons, Cunningham was stuck in one of the worst situations in the NBA, with Detroit seemingly having no real direction.

After playing for the league’s worst team, having season-ending injuries and struggling to find his spot in the NBA, Cunningham finally had everything come together in his fourth year. Not only did he lead the Pistons to their first playoff win since 2008, but simply getting Detroit to the playoffs at all was an accomplishment.

The Pistons hadn’t made a playoff appearance since 2019, when Cunningham was still two seasons away from arriving in Stillwater. Cunningham was the obvious choice for the No. 1 pick in 2021 and has been a savior for Detroit basketball. 

While it took some time for the Pistons to finally get some pieces around him, their rise to the playoffs could soon become a rise into a contender. With Cunningham running the show, the Pistons should be in the playoffs for many years to come, and he might just be able to deliver a championship to Detroit again sometime in the future.