Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham is one of the brightest young stars in today’s NBA, and his personal all-time starting lineup just so happens to be full of Los Angeles Lakers legends.
The engine behind a 14-2 Pistons team revealed his all-time NBA lineup, and of the five players he named, three have starred with the glamorous Lakers franchise: LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. The other players he included were Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry and Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan.
Cade Cunningham’s All-Time Starting 5:
Stephen Curry
Michael Jordan
Kobe Bryant
LeBron James
Shaquille O’Neal
(via @Fanatics, h/t @Curry_Muse)pic.twitter.com/duIyHETeRF
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) November 24, 2025
“With them on the same team, I think they have a chance of going 82-0, but they gotta be locked in,” he said after naming his lineup. “I’ll probably say 77-5.”
Bryant and O’Neal spearheaded one of the most dominant stretches in Lakers history, as they led the team to three titles in a row in the early 2000s. Bryant later won two more rings with L.A. As for James, he won Finals MVP honors at the end of the team’s title run in 2020, and his Lakers tenure is still going.
Lakers players — both former and current — are usually well-represented in all-time starting fives, as it just so happens that the franchise has been fortunate enough to employ some of the most skilled and accomplished players in the history of the league.
The Lakers currently have an all-time great playing for them in James, but his tenure could be over after this season. He is set to hit unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2026. It can’t be denied that Cunningham would be a fascinating James replacement and running mate next to fellow star Luka Doncic, even if the fit would come with question marks.
But for as much as Cunningham and Doncic would give the Lakers an intriguing duo for years to come, there’s no reason to believe that the former is going to leave the Pistons anytime soon. He’s under contract through the 2029-30 season and is playing for a team that’s in a good position to contend in the Eastern Conference for the foreseeable future.