For the first time in nearly 20 years, the Detroit Pistons will have a back-to-back NBA All-Star representing the franchise.
Superstar guard Cade Cunningham was elected as an All-Star starter for the first time in his career, joining Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, Boston’s Jaylen Brown, New York’s Jalen Brunson, and Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey as starters from the Eastern Conference.
The 2026 All-Star Game will take place Sunday, Feb. 15 at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif.
Cunningham was a reserve last season, marking his first trip to an All-Star game, while becoming the first Piston to be an All-Star since Blake Griffin in 2019.
His selection for 2026 serves as the first time since Chauncey Billups and Richard “Rip” Hamilton in 2007 and 2008 that a Pistons player was chosen for consecutive All-Star games. Cunningham, 24, is also the first Pistons player to be chosen as an All-Star starter since Griffin in 2019.
Building off an All-NBA Third Team selection last season, Cunningham has been the catalyst behind Detroit’s surge to becoming the best team in the Eastern Conference.
He’s averaging 25.9 points, 9.6 assists and six rebounds per game on 46% shooting from the field. Cunningham’s defensive chops are also among the best for guards in the NBA.
The fifth-year Piston joins Gilgeous-Alexander and Brown as the only guards in the league averaging 20-plus points while having a defended field goal percentage under 43%.
Cunningham’s also one of the top clutch performers in the league, ranking second in the NBA in clutch scoring — final five minutes of a game when the score is within five points — on top of being fourth league-wide in scoring and second in assists during the fourth quarter.
While his stock has dropped a bit lately, Cunningham remains firmly in the NBA Most Valuable Player discussions. Missing his fourth and fifth games of the season last week and needing a bit of time to find his footing again has Cunningham ranked 6th in [NBA.com’s latest MVP ladder](https://go.skimresources.com?id=126006X1587345&xs=1&xcust=jacob-richman%7C&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nba.com%2Fnews%2Fkia-mvp-ladder-jan-16-2026&product_category=Sporting+Goods%3EAthletics%3EBasketball).
However, it’s hard to argue against him as one of the top players in the league and how directly his play has put the Pistons atop the Eastern Conference for the majority of the season.
Under a new format this year, two teams of U.S. players and one team of international players will be created from the pool of All-Stars to compete in a round-robin tournament, featuring four 12-minute games.
A native of Arlington, Texas, Cunningham would figure to be part of one of the U.S. teams.
The big question remains if Cunningham will be joined by any of his teammates in Los Angeles. Center Jalen Duren has a strong case to be selected as a reserve, averaging a career-best 17.8 points per game on 63% shooting.
Duren, 22, has blossomed into one of the top rising bigs in the league and plays a key role in the Pistons establishing their dominant defense down low. He is on 19 double-doubles through 33 games.
If chosen as a reserve, it would be Duren’s first selection as an All-Star and mark the first time Detroit sent multiple players to the All-Star game since that 2008 season where Billups, Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace all repped for the Pistons.
All-Star reserves will be announced at a later date.