Cade Cunningham's regular season was nothing short of spectacular, and even if it's already come to an end due to the collapsed lung that will sideline him indefinitely, he's done enough to be named to an All-NBA team.
Unfortunately, the only thing standing in the way of the guard and his first All-NBA honors is the 65-game rule that Cunningham and his agent Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports has publicly advocated to change following the recent series of events for the playmaker.
Thankfully though, the recent endorsement from Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett for Cunningham to be named to an All-NBA team couldn't have come at a better time.
KG believes Cunningham deserves First Team All-NBA over Luka Doncic
In a recent episode of the Ticket & the Truth, Garnett made his claim for why players like Cunningham and Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown deserve a spot on the All-NBA First Team over the likes of Los Angeles Lakers Luka Doncic.
"Jaylen Brown and Cade Cunningham are having better years all around basketball than bro. And I’m not a Luka hater," Garnett said. "Hey, listen. He killing, Lord. Listen, we got real candidates over here and he got two other killers on his team. You understand? These men been doing it with just one."
Garnett didn't stop there either, but he added to his claim advocating that the two-way impact for both Cunningham and Brown are why they deserve the honor over Doncic:
"Showing up on consistent every night on both sides of the ball. Bro, only play one side of the ball, bro. I love Luka, bro. But yeah, I look at the game from the whole 360.”
Obviously, the NBA legend's words may not be the voice of reason that helps Cunningham receive the honor he deserves, but his endorsement along with others will only help the guard's case for why the league should reconsider the 65-game rule.
Cunningham has a real case to be an exception
Averaging 24.5 points, 9.9 assists and 5.6 rebounds on shooting splits of 46.1% from field goal range and 34.6% from beyond the arc are superstar numbers.
And that's not even factoring in the 1.5 steals per game that the 24-year-old has posted throughout the regular season.
Playing in 61 games rather than 65 shouldn’t deter him from being named to an All-NBA team, and if the league were to withhold those honors due to just four missed games from a truly unfortunate injury, it would be a bizarre scenario.