Cade Cunningham’s Composure Is Years in the Making

I hate to lose. My dad being a competitor made me competitive. He and my mom being hard workers made me competitive. Watching my older brother and sister compete in sports made me want to compete and be good at what I did. 

I wanted to be like my brother. It started when I was 4 years old. I was watching my brother play, and I just fell in love with the game.

In Dallas, there’s competition everywhere. There’s a lot of talent and a real sports culture. Being around high-level athletes and competition in the grassroots realm is important, learning what it’s like to compete and seeing other kids who are good. Arlington doesn’t get that type of credit, but that’s how we feel. It’s an ‘if you know, you know’ thing for us.

I try to clean up things from past offseasons. I try to be more efficient in how I get my work done and how I work on my skills. I’m trying to be a complete player on both sides of the ball and make sure my mind is in the right space. It’s a lot of one-on-one and one-on-none work. Playing five-on-five is the best way to replicate the real deal. I try to get as much of that as possible. I try to keep my body in the best shape possible.

Being confident in your body is a big part of being the player you want to be. I take that more seriously as I get older. It’s a dog-eat-dog world. Every game there is high-level competition — especially at point guard. You’ve got to find ways to impose yourself. Growing up, I was a really good athlete, and I was bigger and stronger than other guys. Getting to the NBA was a big adjustment for me, finding my way against grown men. As I’ve gotten older, I continue to work at it, and I’m closer to where I want to be.

Adversity builds character better than anything else. All the losses have made me the player I am and have allowed me to win the way I have lately. There’s still a long way to go, but I definitely lean on the adversity. It’s hard in the moment when you’re losing, especially as much as we were losing. But understanding all the things I’ve been through? Those losses didn’t make me feel like a loser. I still felt like a winner, somebody who bleeds winning. I had to find what it takes to win in the NBA, and over time, I started to. I’m not all the way there yet.

The best coaches I’ve had coached me hard. Those are the guys that got me better the fastest. Being around people who are so knowledgeable about the game, I want them to use their knowledge to help me improve. People that aren’t going to do that? They’re not a great fit for me.

I don’t try to prove to guys that I’m the leader. I allow guys to naturally follow me by being the type of leader that I would want. You have to know who your teammates are as people. Knowing what pushes them, what motivates them and how they react, while meeting them where they are. It’s about treating people the way they want to be treated, but also holding your frame.

You have to stay good at things that you’re good at. I got to where I’m at by being a good athlete and a good passer. I’m never going to take that away from my game. But you’ve got to be able to tell yourself the ugly truth about yourself. I have to watch the film when I was terrible and learn from it. I have to talk to people who are great at what they do and dive into their minds. Those things help me.

LeBron was my favorite player growing up. I looked up to him, the way he did things on the court and the way he carried himself off the court. KD was a big influence growing up too, and as I got older, I watched Penny a lot, his highlights and tape. That’s somebody similar in size to me whose game I liked. 

When I was young, we said Barry Sanders was the greatest running back ever. He was the coldest one on Madden. Being from Oklahoma State, going to Detroit, and meeting him and hearing he’s a fan of my game? It’s crazy to me, having a legend like that in my corner rooting for me. I’m a big fan of what he was able to do.

I always played in Nike. I always wore it growing up. So to be on campus now, starting my signature line? It’s a dream come true and a blessing. Going back to when I was a kid, the best athletes in every sport wore Nike. Even today, it has the aura of ‘this is what the best wear.’ It adds confidence to you.

I really want to make a great basketball shoe. It has to elevate my game and allow me to play at a higher level. And it’s all about the star for me. My signature logo, the star, represents something so deep. I want to push light into the world, to inspire people and help communities less fortunate than me. I feel like we’re all stars in that way, we’re all capable of sharing light. And I want everybody to feel like a star when they wear my shoe.

Sometimes I turn my phone off. My loved ones and family don’t love it, but disconnecting from social media? I do that a lot. As much as I can, I get outside in the sun. I mix it up. I like going to a beach; I like playing golf or pickleball; I’ll go on a hike or ride a bike; I’m down. If I’m in the sun? I’m good.