Round 2 Game 7: Post-Game Press Conference: Cade Cunningham — Pistons vs. Cavs — 05.17.26

[0:02] Cade, could you figure out what happened early on? [0:08] What hit you guys, and how hard was that to fathom right out of the box? [0:15] Both teams came out to win the game. [0:22] Just went their way. [0:23] I don't really have an answer outside of that. [0:27] Cade, obviously the team accomplished a lot this season. [0:30] Not how you wanted it to end tonight, but where's your mind at now? [0:34] And I guess how do you reconcile those two things, [0:35] understanding that this team made a lot of progress, [0:37] but obviously didn't end the season on the note you guys wanted to end it on? [0:42] Yeah, that game sucked. [0:50] Being back home, definitely wanted to get this win in front of the fans. [0:55] Reminded me of last year, losing on the home court. [0:58] It's not a great feeling. [0:59] So I hadn't been thinking about the offseason, [1:04] so my mind's been racing now trying to figure out what I got to do, [1:09] what it's going to look like. [1:11] That's really it. [1:13] Just immediately, how do you kind of feel you can continue to grow from this season [1:17] and what has kind of inspired that growth? [1:19] You know, working on my body, athlete, things like that. [1:30] All those things will help me a lot. [1:33] Continuing to sharpen my game. [1:34] My game feels sharp right now. [1:37] But, you know, building off where I'm at right now [1:39] and continuing to add on and, you know, become the best player I can be. [1:43] All those things are on the forefront of my mind. [1:47] And, you know, I have time to, you know, work on those things. [1:50] So, you know, I'm just focused on how I can get better now. [1:54] Can you talk about what this game was like, you know, [1:57] especially early on when so much was on the line [1:59] and then all of a sudden you look up, you're down 10, down 15, down 20. [2:03] Osser said that he felt like they came out and kind of hit you first. [2:06] And he said we always want to be, you guys always want to be in a position [2:09] to hit first and make them react and not have to react to the other thing. [2:13] Was there some of that going on? [2:14] Did it feel almost stunning to sort of be in that situation during this game? [2:19] I mean, stunning. [2:22] Felt like early on some of the plays just, you know, [2:27] were bad bounces or miscommunications, giving them points and stuff. [2:32] Felt like it was something that we would be able to fix. [2:35] And we just never got it together. [2:37] So credit to them. [2:39] They did everything they needed to do to win the game tonight. [2:43] And we fell short of that. [2:45] Kay, obviously it's fresh, you know. [2:48] JB was saying he refused to say this was a disappointment. [2:51] Just based on what you guys were able to do, [2:53] you talked about like what you want to grow at. [2:55] But what's something about this season or these playoffs that you are proud of [2:58] you can't hang your hat on just from this experience as well? [3:02] I mean, he's right. [3:04] We had a great year. [3:06] We grew a lot. [3:07] Grew from last year. [3:09] That was the whole goal of this season was to grow [3:12] and become a better team than last year. [3:13] And we did that. [3:15] Obviously, disappointing series right here. [3:19] Fell short of, you know, doing enough of the right things to win the series. [3:23] But we were a number one seed for a reason. [3:27] We won a lot of games this year. [3:29] We played great basketball all year long. [3:31] Really established the identity and stuff that we didn't have for a long time. [3:35] So, you know, all those things are positives and things that, you know, [3:38] we'll take into the offseason and come back next year and grow from. [3:42] Kay, kind of going off of that, you know, in the two short years that JB Bickerstaff [3:46] and Trajan Blaine have been here, you know, [3:47] the standard is raised quite significantly here for this Pistons team. [3:50] You know, just as you do kind of reflect and head into the offseason, [3:53] I know obviously a lot of negative feelings about how the season ended. [3:56] But, you know, how grateful are you not only just for, you know, JB, Trajan, [3:59] what they've brought here, but also just everyone in that locker room [4:02] that you fought alongside this season? [4:04] Yeah, very grateful. [4:06] Grateful for the whole season. [4:11] Grateful that everybody, you know, came out of the season healthy. [4:14] Nothing crazy. [4:16] But like you said, I mean, starting with the guys in the locker room, [4:20] we had a lot of fun this year, you know, competing with each other. [4:23] You know, practice, flights, games, obviously, you know, had a lot of fun. [4:29] We bonded more than any other team that I've had in the NBA. [4:33] And, you know, a lot of that is a credit to Coach and, you know, [4:38] just the environment that he instilled, [4:40] Trajan, the environment that they instilled in the building. [4:43] You know, things that are business, but also we have fun together [4:47] and we enjoy our time with each other. [4:48] So, you know, I can't thank everybody enough for, you know, [4:53] just creating that environment, allowing us to grow in the way we did [4:57] and all the support that, you know, I've had [5:00] and the whole team has had this season. [5:02] Cade, knowing that you guys didn't, as a collective, [5:05] play your very best game to finish the season, [5:08] how much does that fuel you all going forward [5:11] into not only next season but the offseason [5:14] and what you could probably do, what you want to do from here? [5:18] Yeah, a lot. [5:20] I mean, it's hard not to. [5:24] You know, it was a great opportunity this season, you know, [5:28] to move forward and to continue to, you know, [5:31] experience new things that we hadn't been exposed to. [5:35] Fell short, we were right there, but we fell short. [5:39] So, you know, I think that chip and that sting is going to sit for a while [5:44] and got to work through it and continue to grow. [5:47] Thank you.