Pistons’ Cade Cunningham Leads LeBron James in Unique NBA Stat

Cade Cunningham leads former No. 1 overall picks in playmaking.

Nov 4, 2024; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) is defended by Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) in the second half at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images / Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

Over the weekend, Cade Cunningham wrapped up his first NBA All-Star Game with a five-minute showing in the newly implemented tournament. Now, it’s back to work, focusing on the Detroit Pistons.

As Cunningham enters the final stretch of the 2024-2025 NBA season, he leads the league in a unique statistic, sitting above prominent players like Los Angeles’ LeBron James and Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards.

According to Statmuse, Cunningham’s 470 assists this season are the most for a former No. 1 overall pick in the NBA this year.

Most assists by a first overall pick this season:

470 — Cade
431 — LeBron

Only two over 250. pic.twitter.com/fEWwOD7eby

— StatMuse (@statmuse) February 17, 2025

LeBron James comes in at second with 431 assists in 48 games. Not only are Cunningham and LeBron the only two in that category with over 250 assists, but they have nearly doubled everybody in the top five.

Beyond Edwards is LA Clippers’ Ben Simmons, Dallas’ Kyrie Irving, San Antononio’s Victor Wembanyama, New York’s Karl Anthony-Towns, Dallas’ Anthony Davis, Miami’s Andrew Wiggins, and Orlando’s Paolo Banchero.

Outside of the former No. 1 overall pick category, Cunningham fares well across the league in the assists department, with everybody included. Coming out of the All-Star break, Cunningham ranks third overall in assists per game with 9.4. He sits behind Denver’s Nikola Jokic and Atlanta’s Trae Young.

Cunningham might be too far behind to catch Young, who is on pace to win the passing title for the 2024-2025 season, but the young guard’s continued progress in several areas of his game is a great sign for the Pistons, who invested big in Cunningham over the summer.

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