Cade Cunningham and Kevin Durant sat down in a quiet room to talk basketball, life, and everything in between for Boardroom’s November Cover Story. The conversation started not with headlines or highlights, but with two players — one rising, one a legend — connecting over the game and their shared experiences.
From the jump, Cunningham carries himself with the calm of someone who’s thought deeply about where he’s been and where he’s going. He talks about Detroit not as a market or a franchise, but as a living, breathing responsibility. “They come out to the games, bro. Detroit is different like that. It is just a different love out there, bro. From everybody,” he said.
Durant listens the way only someone who’s been through the full arc of superstardom can: nodding, challenging gently, pushing Cade to dig deeper. When the conversation shifts to leadership, Cunningham doesn’t flinch. He reflects on what it means to lead a young Pistons team through chaos, injuries, expectations, and growth. “I feel like I’ve always just kind of been a steady voice, for real. When we was losing, I was trying, you know what I’m saying? … The vets coming in, them talking to me, picking their brains and stuff — I just felt more equipped. I built camaraderie with them on the court as far as chemistry and stuff, and we just all kind of rose from that.”
But the talk isn’t all basketball. At one point, Cade opens up about becoming a father, and the room’s energy changes: “That makes you grow up.”
Oklahoma State becomes a thread in their conversation, a place that still feels like a personal compass for Cunningham. He lights up describing the program, the community, the lessons learned. Durant leans in, curious, asking what drew him there in the first place and what shaped him during those years. Cade doesn’t hide the emotion behind his answer, speaking about trust, loyalty, and the space he was given to grow into himself.
By the time their conversation wraps, it feels less like an interview and more like a passing of perspective, two players from different eras meeting somewhere in the middle. Cunningham talks about the future without rushing it, speaking on discipline, on staying true to who he wants to become. Durant answers with reflections earned over a long career, nodding at Cade’s drive and sense of self.
There’s no big finale or dramatic twist. Just two hoopers, two leaders, sharing the kind of conversation that reveals more than it states. And for Cunningham, this moment feels like another step — not just in his career, but in his becoming.
This interview has been edited for length & clarity.
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KEVIN DURANT: How you move, your game is unique. Your style is unique. So getting to talk to you, I’m a nerd, so I want to just nerd out on life, ball, style, music, all of that. But first, I want to go back to how you came up being in Dallas. Growing up there, what made you make the decision to say, “All right, this is what I want to do for a living?”
CADE CUNNINGHAM: My dad was a football player, so I was growing up playing football. That was my number one. I don’t know. It hit a time where I realized I didn’t really care for football practice at all. But hooping and working on my game just gave me a thrill. When I was going to high school, Texas, that’s when it was serious football time. So I just wanted to hoop. My brother was already hooping, so it was simple for me.
Would you say that you knew you wanted to be a point guard because you were tall, taller than all your classmates coming up?
Nah, not at all. I was at three. At this time, I was still playing some four for real on my team. That didn’t happen until I played 15U and 16U. I wasn’t playing up at all in high school. My brother was like, “Nah, we got to go full point just for size of position.” I was already a playmaker, but I was like a point forward for real. Now I just went full time and never looked back.
Do you think playing in your age group, because a lot of guys play fifteens, they might play up 17 and come off the bench, they might not get a lot of opportunities, but they got potential. You felt like playing 15s, and playing 16s allowed you to grow and become that point guard you wanted to be?
Sure. When I played 16s, there’s no way any other guard ran more pick and roll than me. That’s something.
No chance.
We came down and we were just repping it. This summer, the games were training for me the whole year. I played one session 17 years with Drive Nation. I played the three. They had guards that were older. So it just didn’t make sense, and a lot of people were on my head about that at the time. I know people were always talking to my brother. He got to be playing up. He can’t be playing his age group. But we had a mission, a plan, and we just tried to stick with it.
Now, would you say that you started watching film around this time? Like 15, 16 years old? Because you were in a pick-and-roll a lot. That takes a lot of smarts, a lot of intellect to know how to read the game at that age. I’m sure your brother, who was a coach too, had you watching film. Who were you watching around that time?
Yeah, I’m watching all the big guards. Penny, T-Mac, Brandon Roy was always one of my favorites.
Just tough.
He had a touch of everything. Right hand, left hand, big guard. He was posting up too. Jason Kidd was a big one. Just like all the big guards. It wasn’t really anybody I locked in on. I was just trying to take something from a little bit of everybody.
And going to Montverde, what went into that decision?
My sophomore year, I was watching the Geico National Championship. Montverde was playing, and they were just being Cardi, talking about the prep school route, how everybody’s playing at the top every year. I’m watching, and I’m like, “I got to be on this stage at some point. That’s not happening in my hometown.” I begged my parents, and eventually they bent on me. “All right, bet, we’re going to let you go, but you got to keep everything straight.” Montverde was smooth. They had such structure that my parents were willing to let me rock out.
How was that, living out on your own, going to college early? Y’all lived in dorms and everything out there?
Right. I’ve never said this on any interview, but my first month, I moved away from all my family. I go through the first death ever. I’d never had anybody in my family, nobody around me die. That happened two more times.
Wow.
So it’s three of them, and then two weeks after all that, I find out my ex-girlfriend’s pregnant. I’m having my daughter. And I’m away from my parents, away from everybody. I was stuck. My parents, I’m so thankful for them. They’ve been such a support system for me with my daughter. They were like, “You were begging us to go out there and do your thing hooping.” I’m thinking, “I got to go back to the crib now and be a dad. Hoop is done for me.”
You thought you were done.
I thought it was done. Everybody I knew that had kids young was done hooping.
You got drafted and went through all of that in your junior, senior year. I would’ve never known. You walk around like a grown-up, and that’s why we respect you.
That makes you grow up.
Now I know why. As you were picking colleges, did you want to be closer to Dallas because of having a daughter?
That played a part, for sure.
You didn’t want to go to Texas? That’s crazy.
I mean, we can talk about that.
No, go ahead.
My family, they were so supportive whenever all that stuff was going on. They were like, “You’ve been begging to go. Now go for it. We got Riley, go for it.”
That’s fire.
Going through college, same thing. Really had the option to go anywhere. Nobody was pressing. My brother was at Oklahoma State. He was like, “Those might be better schools for you.”
Really?
I mean, it’s Kentucky, all the ones.
Your brother was a coach at Oklahoma State a year before you got there, right?
Right.
You always wanted to play for your brother, though, huh?
That’s my man. We just speak the same language. He understands me. He’s all about me being the best version of myself. Coach Boyton, the head coach at the time, he was the first coach to offer me. Me and him had built the best relationship out of all the college coaches already. Then he goes and gets my brother. The whole team is from my area. It just makes sense. I had a plan. I’m going to the NBA after this one season, wherever I go. So, I felt like I might as well surround myself with the best people possible for this year.
I feel like Oklahoma State is one of those schools you can leave a mark in one year. They’ve got a nice history, but somebody like you can come in and establish yourself. I think you did that early in your college career, averaging what, 26 and 5?
Oh, and 3. You ain’t average 5 or 6, 3 assists average in college. We were actually just talking about this.
I averaged 25 and 12 rebounds. One assist.
That’s ridiculous.
I was nervous as hell my first game, but by the second game I was like, “Oh yeah, this is going to be kind of a cake walk.” You felt that early at Oklahoma State?
Yeah. You just feel it. At first, you’re nervous about the physicality, all the other stuff. But after you get to it, then it’s like, “Oh yeah, I’m still the best player out here.”
After your season, obviously, like you said, you knew you was going to go to the league. Who were the teams that were the lottery teams around that time, though?
Top three was Detroit, Houston, and Cleveland.
I know you love Detroit. There’s nothing against Detroit, but did you have a team in mind that you wanted to play for coming out of college?
Not at all, actually. Now, whenever the lottery was happening and it started cutting down, I’m like, it’s final three. It’s Cleveland, Houston, and Detroit. I’m like, don’t let me go to Cleveland. … I’m not trying to go to Cleveland, and then it’s Houston. I’m from Arlington; Houston is four hours down the road. But in my head, back of my head, I’m like, that might get tricky. … I was so happy to go to Detroit.
I love Detroit for you, for the simple fact that it’s a hardworking city. For one, the people there really grind. It’s a lot of self-made people there. And then the Detroit Pistons brand from back in the Bad Boy days, even the old four Pistons. I feel like you are the type of player to kind of bring that back together. I know it was a rough few first few years with losing streak, different coaches, different front office. But I feel like now y’all kind of solidified y’all selves as like, alright, this is a team we want to build with. How quickly did you sense the city start to rally around y’all team after such a bad start?
It took some time through that year. We started off slow. I think we dropped maybe the first five games, first four games last year. Everybody was like, “All here we go again.” Know what I mean? You could hear that in the crowd. You could feel it.
Was it more focused in film, more focused in practice, shootaround? Did you see the intensity level go up with everybody?
We had a great group of vets come in. So, it was like they knew what it took to win. You know what I’m saying? They had been around it.
Was it Tobias [Harris] who came in?
Tobias. Tim Hardaway. Malik Beasley.
They all made big plays for y’all down. They all came and made big plays.
They’re on the court but also in practice every day. Their seriousness was different than what we had. You know what I’m saying? We’d always been so young. So the seriousness, the attention to detail just rose for us, man.
Did you feel like your voice was being, your voice had to be louder and louder as y’all started winning more? Or did you kind of like, alright, let me just focus in, let the vets do they thing and let me just focus in on my role?
I feel like I’ve always just kind of been a steady voice, for real. When we was losing, I was trying, you know what I’m saying? But man, we just couldn’t figure it out, and I wasn’t ready yet to lead. The vets coming in, them talking to me, picking their brains and stuff—I just felt more equipped. I built camaraderie with them on the courts as far as chemistry and stuff, and we just all kind of rose from that. But as far as talking and stuff, I’ve always kind of just had that, talking to guys, being communicated. I’m low man, I’ve just always kind of been that.
At 22, you got to be the leader of the team, and now at 24, you got younger guys coming in behind you, and usually that’s a tough position to be put into. But having a coach like JB, who’s been around great players, who’s been an assistant, y’all relationship grown since last season?
Man, it’s grown a lot. Our competitive spirits is what connected us in the beginning, you know what I mean? I think we saw that in each other, and we knew that we were going to compete for each other. But I mean, just we both love the game. We both love the details of it. What would make this work out better? What will make this closeout look better? And I’ve always been a natural leader as far as talking to the guys, and I think I take some off of his plate when it comes to that. He wants to win so bad. He don’t have no, he’ll call anybody out, call me out. He call anybody out for what we need done from him, and then you just move from it. You know what I mean? I’ve just always respected that so much.
One thing I love about JB is how intense he is when he’s screaming at the ref to it. That’s how you could tell he want to win so bad. He just to it.
So, I want to talk a little bit about offensively with y’all. I know I don’t want to give away all your philosophies, but you handle the ball a lot. Do you feel as though sometimes you want to come off of it and play off the ball a little bit more?
Yeah, I’ve had games where we’ve done that. You know what I mean? And it’s fun. It is a good balance. You know what I mean? I think there’s times where I need to be bringing it up and facilitating everything from up top. But there’s been a lot of times where, depending on how they want to guard me and stuff like that, a lot of times people want to pick me up when I’m bringing it up, depending on all that stuff, it just is less energy to come down, come off a screen, maybe get the ball in the spot, and now we can play. It’s a balance. I’m still trying to figure it out.
Would you say Dennis Schröder helped you with that last year?
Yeah, he helped a ton. He just knows how to get guys in spots, trying to get this play. You know what I mean? He’s just so savvy. And he got that dog to him, too.
He’ll pick up 94 feet. He don’t care who it is. He’ll talk shit to anybody. You don’t like him as an opponent, but on your team he look like a good teammate. Do you ever feel like you can be in a backcourt with another guard starting with a point guard? Not like a Malik Beasley, Duncan Robinson, but another point guard, like somebody else that can handle the ball like you?
Yeah, I think so.
Really?
I think it just has to be me and Ivy. We haven’t got a lot of time together, you know what I’m saying? But I think our approaches are — I don’t know what the — but it’s like opposites of track. We have two different ways of going about it. But I’ve always felt like we could figure it out and be special. You know what I’m saying? We haven’t been able to meet each other on the court for long enough to really get that going.
He started shooting it better last year, too.
He started shooting the skin off the ball. So, now I’m coming off. He’s a knockdown shooter for me. We know he can get in the paint at will, you know what I mean? So I definitely feel like I can — I think he’s a great example of that. We just haven’t been able to get it going. But for sure, I think I definitely play with a guard.
I feel like you’re a combo. I actually feel like you can go from one to four, actually. I mean, you always going to bring the ball up, but you can guard some bigger players and shoot the ball. Catch and shoot, too.
You made the All-Star team last year — that shit, that’s huge. That’s something that nobody ever take from you. Obviously, that was the goal. How was that weekend for you, though? Because that first one, it is crazy hectic.
Yeah, it is a lot of moving around. I think they kind of took care of me. I feel like it was busy, though. Just being out there. And actually being an All-Star Rising Stars is amazing. You going out there, you’re part of it, just to spectate is cool, but when you an All-Star, it’s different.
It’s a great feeling. Coming out of All-Star break, that was the first time you like, all right, coming out this break, we got to put our foot on the gas if we actually want to. That’s another phase of the team having to turn the page so quickly. How was that mindset going right after the All-Star break?
I mean, firstly, it was a blessing to even be in that, versus the previous years, come out of All-Star break, season over. Yeah, season over with everybody taking off against you. It’s just like nobody gives a damn about our games. So, just had us all fired up. We’ve had a bunch of guys be in the trenches for years. Not even thinking about playoffs. I ain’t even smelling playoff basketball. It’s sick. To be in the hunt. I’m like, nah, we going to get in there for sure. So, it was cool. I think it helped us a lot as far as the professionalism part of it, of being a playoff team. I think it was just great for all us young guys to experience that for the first time. And we got better. We should have won that Knicks series.
What game? Game 2, did y’all win? Game 2, right?
Yeah.
Your first game though wasn’t really what you wanted it to be.
No, it wasn’t. … I shot bad.
You shot bad. It wasn’t bad. You didn’t shoot toward the stands. But Game 2, what was your adjustment in between those games?
I’m going to take what they give me. I’m not going to force anything going. And I got too passive, they showing me bodies, and I’m just getting off of it. But I’m not really trying to figure out how am I going to apply myself.
So, when they start showing bodies, doubling the pick-and-roll in the gaps, and you start passing, you look up as the third quarter, you ain’t really got nothing going. You felt like you didn’t have no rhythm at all, huh?
Yeah. I mean, I was getting shots, but I wasn’t in enough of an attack mindset, you know what I mean? To where I’m going in here to score, y’all come help, now I’m making plays. I was kind of like, I’m going to come in here. Y’all are going to help. I’m make plays. It’s just a difference.
That’s a small nuance, man. I find myself trying to balance that so much, and it’s like you don’t want to think about it too much, but it’s like when you start seeing yourself not being aggressive and start letting the defense dictate, now that’s when you start putting your foot on the gas.
And that’s playing into their hands.
Exactly. Exactly.
That’s one of the balances that honestly I feel like is one of the biggest things that if I can master that, I think I could take my game to a whole other level. You know what I mean? It’s something that I’ve always been trying to work on, and it’s fun. It’s fun. You know how fun this job is.
It’s like no going back for y’all. So every game in the regular season is important. Every practice, shootaround, feels important. Has your routine kind of changed based off of becoming more successful as a team and as a player? Your day-to-day routine?
I think I’m just more intentional about what it is I’m working on — shootarounds, game days, and stuff like pregame routines and stuff. I’m just more intentional. I remember I asked you about that stuff. How robotic are you about it, as far as are you trying to do the exact same thing or do you mess around with it? And I remember you telling me like, nah, you got to be free with it. And that changed how I go about it. Just having intention on, “I’m about to work on this,” and I go out there and work on it. Until it feels good, for real. Off the court, I feel pretty much same. I’ve never been too crazy. I’ve always been pretty chill.
What’s the shootaround routine for you? Y’all shoot around a lot?
Yeah.
A lot of teams don’t shoot around no more.
We young.
Y’all still shoot around every game?
Most games, not every game.
You just get that pre-game work, shoot on a game day, or get work in before shootaround or after shootaround?
After shootaround.
You usually get your individuals in?
After shootaround, I get individuals.
How long is that? Because that’s the type of shit I’m thinking about, because we get loads, they put chips on us all the time. So it’s like they’re trying to tailor our workouts. So I’m always curious to what dude’s doing throughout the game, then how much load they putting on their body.
I was just told today I got to shorten that up. It just goes until it feels like, but that doesn’t align with the loads that they want. You know what I’m saying? And I understand that sometimes. I feel it afterwards. I did too much trying to work. It’s a tough one.
And a lot of people, and I’m always tapped into how people view our game and how they view the players, and they tend to look at us as a little softer as other generations. But I’m just like, yo, if you would, we’re basically in a lab in there. Sometimes it’s like they can read every little thing that we do and tailor everything. You not playing today or cut this workout in 20 minutes.
Facts.
As a player, you really have to find your own rhythm amongst all of this stuff regardless of what they say sometimes.
Have to. It’s all on your field at the end of the day.
And you feel like, as a young vet, and you the max player, you feel like you can say, all right, nah, this is what I want to do out here. You feel like you got that type of voice within the organization?
I went long again today after he said that. I went along. It’s all on field. If something don’t feel right, you know what I’m saying? Or if you just want something to be sharper, it is what it is.
What does that 15, 20 minutes look like for you? Is it high intensity? One-on-one, simulating the one-on-ones, iso work, catch and shoot, is it your left-hand hook that you like to do? Is it actually running through plays? What does that look like an individual for you?
Yeah, a lot of times it’s touch stuff. So, my jumper for sure, floaters, then stationary finishes from close, far hooks from close, far.
That lefty got me last year with that hook. I did not know it was coming. I didn’t know you had it. I didn’t know you had the left.
Nobody expects a left hook.
You heavy in the music shit, right? You make music. You got a studio at the house. I sent you a song before I — he ain’t even respond back to the song. But it’s all good. I’m going to send you some more stuff.
I’m going to send you an open, too.
I don’t know if they know that about Cade, that he really be in that studio heavy. The Detroit rap scene is …
Crazy.
It’s almost like Atlanta level of, you know what I’m saying? Taking over. I feel like they the No. 1 in the game right now. That’s crazy. And I’m seeing Babyface Ray at the games now. I’m seeing Peezy. I’m seeing Big Sean the other day. Have y’all tapped in yet?
Yeah, I’m tapped in with all of them. They all show love.
They put you on every song. Big shot.
They come out to the games. Detroit is different like that. You know what I’m saying? It is just a different love out there. From everybody. Everybody supports each other. It’s cool to be a part of something like that. I play for the Pistons. I just got dropped into a community like that. It’s fire. I love it.
No, I love Detroit. I love everything they doing in Detroit. You heard a Bruiser Wolf? Nah. Check out Bruiser Wolf. My favorite new artist from Detroit.
Say less.
I just got a text, matter of fact, saying that you signing back with Nike. This is true?
That’s true, yeah.
And you going to get your own signature shoe. That’s true?
That’s true.
I’m so happy for you, dog.
Yes, sir.
I don’t know if you want me to tell, but we had a conversation this summer. You called me…
We did. The fact you picked up that phone call, though.
We was just talking about the Nike game and what it means and how important that is to us for you to get your own shoe. And for you to have a legacy. You know how big that is? A signature athlete at Nike.
I haven’t really grasped it yet. You know what I’m saying?
That’s incredible. You got one of the coldest logos I’ve ever seen.
Appreciate that.
I know you’re going to create some dope stuff, but congratulations, dog.
Thank you. That’s insane.
Make sure you hands-on with all the designs, man. All that. This shit is fun. It’s fun once you really put your hands on it. Early on in my career, I was more so like, alright, just give me a shoe, and I’ll just put it on. But as I got older, I really started to value from the ground up, the whole process—the advertising, all that. It’s a part of your legacy. That’s who you are. Your shoes going to be on the ground forever when you done playing. You know what I’m saying? Your daughter going to be able to have her name on these shoes.
Facts. I don’t got no worries about it. I’m still like, man, it’s crazy. Dream come true.
You really a young legend to me. I know you going to put the work in and actually bring it to fruition, but you setting the generation up. People are looking up to you right now. So keep at it. Here for you always.
Can’t enough be said about you, though. For real. Living legend. Still doing it. People don’t understand how special what you do is. Over time, when I was coming up, OKC, all that stuff, it was loud.
Love for. Always. Always, man. Appreciate you. Appreciate it.
Interviewer – Kevin Durant
VP, Content – Damien Scott
Art Director – Michelle Lukianovich
Senior Producer – Craig Newton
Director, Video Producer – Audrey Blackmore
Sr. Director of Social – Yoni Mernick
Sr. Director of Audience Development – Jonathan Wiener
Manager of Content Operations – Griffin Adams
Director, Marketing – Stephanie Talmadge
CMO – Sarah Flynn
Co-Founders – Rich Kleiman & Kevin Durant
Clothing Stylist – Mamadou Bah
Director of Photography – Shaider Divina
Photographer – Sean Archibong, CS Visuals
Photo Assistant – Carissa Archibong, CS Visuals
Producer – Shannon Chance
Production Assistant – Romina Palacios
Sound Mixer – Case Mundy
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