IT’S A LATE APRIL AFTER noon, and Cade Cunningham is sitting on a black leather couch inside a sunny, white-walled studio in Los Angeles for his SLAM cover shoot. He’s in the midst of explaining what “Detroit vs Everybody” really means to him.
It was already a thing, he says, when he arrived last summer as the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, and at first, he didn’t really understand what it meant. But when he tweeted the Motor City’s rallying cry last month, having just finished his rookie season, he wanted to make it clear to everyone in Detroit that he fully understands it now.
“I just wanted to let the city know [that] I’m fully behind the message. I think the team is [too], at the same time. We’re trying to bring Detroit back on top in the sports world because that’s what we control, but Detroit got a lot of things going on. I think the city’s gonna continue to grow.”
Moments earlier, Cunningham was dripped out in a furry, fire-engine red Des Pierrot coat, his Pistons City Edition uniform and a blinged out gold chain while posing for his cover. He was hip to the Detroit scene long before. It’s a little movie. Tough! See, I can put y’all on, fam! Y’all gotta watch ”
