While Detroit Pistons All-Star Cade Cunningham was opening up to Kevin Durant, the Houston Rockets All-Star, he shared a funny story about the NBA lottery heading into his draft night. As the teams to win the No. 1 pick were narrowed to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Houston Rockets, and the Detroit Pistons, Cunningham revealed he hoped for either the Pistons or the Rockets to take him first overall, but please, not the Cavs, he pleaded.

Cunningham revealed his thought process and the reasons he didn't want to play for the Cavs in a sit-down interview with Duran via Boardroom.

“No at all. Whenever the lottery was happening and it started cutting down. The final three — it’s Cleveland, Houston, and Detroit — I’m like, don’t let me go to Cleveland,” Cunningham said. “I don’t know if it’s the red and blue. I don’t know if it’s the hit, like Isiah Thomas. It was just the history for it. I was a big Bron fan growing up. But, I’m not trying to go to Cleveland.”

While he didn't want to go to the Cavs and playing for the Rockets would have felt like playing for his hometown, Cunningham was hoping it would be the Pistons with the first pick in the 2021 NBA Draft.

“I’m from Arlington. Houston’s like four hours down the road,” Cunningham added. “But, in my head, I’m like, that might get tricky. I kind of wanted to [get away]. People don’t want to go to Stillwater. People want to go to Houston. It was just different. And I could feel it even beforehand. Everybody’s like, “Houston, Houston!” I wouldn’t have been mad, but I was so happy to go to Detroit.

As a young father and the NBA's top prospect, Cunningham yearned for a fresh start in a new city. Cunningham would finish third for the Rookie of the Year award, but earned his first All-Star selection last year, in only his fourth season.

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Cade Cunningham gets real on becoming a teen dad before Pistons

Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) walks off the court after a victory against the Philadelphia 76ers at Xfinity Mobile Arena
Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

In a season where Pistons All-Star Cade Cunningham signed his first signature shoe deal, he's led his team to the best record — 11-2 — in the Eastern Conference. Cunningham revealed that becoming a teen father made him grow up fast, while his family's support along his path to the NBA made everything easier.

“My family was so supportive of me. Whenever all that stuff was going on, they were like, ‘You’ve been begging to go, now go for it. We got Riley, go for it.’ Going through college, they were the same. They were so like, ‘We got your daughter,’ that I really had the option to go anywhere,” said Cunningham.

Cunningham attended Oklahoma State University for one year before becoming the No.1 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft.