Cade Cunningham's MVP chances just got a major jolt from a former NBA All-Star

Jeremy Beren

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Cade Cunningham's MVP chances just got a major jolt from a former NBA All-Star image

Winslow Townson-Imagn Images

A Detroit Pistons player has never won the NBA MVP award.

Former All-Star Jeff Teague thinks Cade Cunningham could be the first.

Cunningham's game-high 32 points and 10 assists steered the Pistons to a hard-fought win over the Boston Celtics on Monday night. Cunningham scored nine points in the fourth quarter, and he buried two mid-range jumpers over two-time All-Defense selection Derrick White to silence the Boston crowd as the Celtics tried to pull off a late rally.

The Pistons, now 21-5, lead the New York Knicks by 2.5 games in the Eastern Conference. And to Teague, that means Cunningham should be the MVP favorite one-third of the way through the season.

"He is the front-runner for the MVP," Teague said of Cunningham on the Club 520 Podcast. "His team has no other star. Everybody else has legit stars on their team. He's the only guaranteed, bonafide star on that team."

Teague said that Pistons center Jalen Duren could be named an All-Star for the first time amid his breakout year, but the situation that Cunningham faces as the leader of a young Detroit roster differs greatly from other candidates.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won NBA MVP last year and led a star-laden Thunder team to its first title in Oklahoma City. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray are the star tandem in Denver, while Luka Doncic has LeBron James and Austin Reaves by his side on the Los Angeles Lakers.

At the very least, it is an interesting case to make in favor of Cunningham, who Teague insists should be one of the top two candidates to win the NBA's top individual honor already.

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