The Detroit Pistons are already having a special season and it’s leading to early honors as star guard Cade Cunningham was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month and coach J.B. Bickerstaff named Eastern Conference Coach of the Month honors for games played in October and November.
This is the first conference player of the month award Cunningham has won during his five-year career. He won Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played from Nov. 3-9.
Bickerstaff has earned the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month award twice before, having won with the Pistons in February 2025 and once with the Cleveland Cavaliers in January 2022.
Last year, Bickerstaff became the first Pistons head coach to win the award since Flip Saunders in 2008.
With the Pistons getting off to a 16-4 start through November that included a franchise record-tying 13-game win streak, it was the 2021 No. 1 overall pick delivering some of the biggest performances throughout the best start to a Detroit season since 2005.
Cunningham averaged 28.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 9.4 assists while shooting 45.6% from the field in the 17 games he played in October and November.
He’s one of just three players in the NBA averaging at least 28 points, six rebounds and nine assists per game, joining the Los Angeles Lakers’ Luka Doncic and the Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic.
This season, Cunningham is 10th in points and second in assists per game. He has proven to be one of the top clutch players in the NBA this season, averaging 9.9 points in the fourth quarter — ranking second in the league behind Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Among his major performances were a 46-point, 12-rebound, 11-assist outing in an overtime win over the Washington Wizards and a stretch of five straight games with 25-plus points and 10-plus assists in a win capped off with a clutch game against the Atlanta Hawks.
As Bickerstaff helped guide the Pistons to their historic winning streak, Detroit went 8-2 at home and on the road, joining defending NBA Champion Oklahoma City Thunder as the only teams with eight-plus wins at home and on the road.
The Pistons ranked top-10 in offense (7th) and defense (8th) despite also missing key players during their winning streak.
Cunningham and center Jalen Duren each missed two games, while veteran Tobias Harris was absent for eight games and feature forward Ausar Thompson out for three games.
The Pistons sit atop the Eastern Conference as the second full month of the season gets going, with Detroit leading the conference by three games and having the best record against East foes at 13-4.