ESPN's Tim Bontemps just made himself an enemy among the Detroit Pistons' fanbase after pushing back on the notion that Cade Cunningham deserves an All-NBA nod after suiting up in only 64 games this season, rather than the 65-game minimum.
Cunningham's All-NBA dreams received a much-needed update on Thursday after the league approved him to be award-eligible despite falling short of the recently implemented 65-game rule.
And while the favorable update may have been a sigh of relief for Cunningham, his camp and the team's fanbase, Bontemps and company seemed to push back on the idea that he deserves to be an exception to the rule.
"I'm thrilled Cade's [Cunningham] on the ballot personally.," Bontemps said. "He deserves to be on the team...I'm glad he's eligible, but if we have a 65-game rule, ruling with a guy because he has an unusual injury, like what's the difference between an unusual injury and an injury? He got hurt playing basketball."
Cunningham's should be rewarded for 64 games, not punished for 1
It's easy to see where Bontemps is coming from in his argument. If there's a rule in place, it's hard to justify when those rules bend in favor of two players like Cunningham and Luka Doncic and not for a player like Anthony Edwards, who put together a monster season himself.
However, Cunningham and Doncic's case is a bit different than Edwards', and for the Pistons' star to put together a 64-game stretch of impressive play, falling one game shy of the set mark considering the setback would make stripping him of award eligibility seem unfair considering his circumstances.
A collapsed lung is an unusual injury, and although it may have been suffered during basketball activities, it's not one that Cunningham could have played through with treatment; it's a serious issue.
Beyond that, the Pistons' star showed the drive to return to play as quickly as possible, and that alone should have been factored into the decision that deemed him eligible for awards.
This will likely impact the rule completely moving forward
ESPN's Tim McMahon mentioned during the discussion with Bontemps, "it's not a 65-game rule, it's a 65ish rule."
Before this season, the set mark seemed to be a defined line, and NBA commissioner Adam Silver seemed determined to enforce it until instances like these arose.
All-NBA teams are reward systems that allow players to receive larger paydays and be acknowledged for their strong play, and it's hard not to reward the top players, especially when one game is the deciding factor.
Injuries happen, and while circumstances will certainly be taken into consideration, this exception for Cunningham and Doncic will alter how things unfold moving forward.
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