Cade Cunningham is eyeing more success for the Detroit Pistons - ESPN

FOLLOWING A SIX-POINT loss to the Brooklyn Nets, the Detroit Pistons had just set the all-time mark for consecutive losses in a single season in NBA history, dropping 27 in a row. It was Dec. 26, 2023. Inside the locker room, the mood was somber and quiet — apathy a constant threat to seep into a season well on pace to becoming the worst in NBA history. Cade Cunningham, the team's 22-year-old cornerstone, spoke first.

«Don't jump off the boat,» he said. " Right now is the easiest time to stand off and be on your own, but we need to continue to lean on each other and continue to push each other and hold each other accountable more than ever now."

There's perhaps no player in the league who would know better. After being selected No. 1 in the 2021 NBA draft, he had endured a miserable 23-win rookie campaign and an injury-marred 17 wins the following year, and he was now in the middle of a season that was breaking all the wrong records.

And after enduring the worst record in franchise history last season, at 14-68, Cunningham carries those low moments with him as he leads a miraculous Pistons turnaround this year, quieting what might remain of any bust talk as a heavy favorite to win the NBA's Most Improved Player.

«There was a time where I didn't give them much else to think,» Cunningham told ESPN, when asked about the early bust talk. «But I felt support since day one being here, though, and more than anything I wanted to hold up my end of the bargain.»

Detroit is 42-32 this season entering Wednesday's showdown with the West-leading Oklahoma City Thunder (9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN), making the Pistons the first team in NBA history to triple their win total from the previous season, excluding the two lockout seasons in 1998-99