Dante Cunningham
 Cunningham (front) with the Timberwolves in January 2014 | |
| No. 33 – San Antonio Spurs | |
|---|---|
| Position | Forward |
| League | NBA |
| Personal information | |
| Born |
April 22, 1987 Clinton, Maryland |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) |
| Listed weight | 230 lb (104 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | |
| College | Villanova (2005–2009) |
| NBA draft | 2009 / Round: 2 / Pick: 33rd overall |
| Selected by the Portland Trail Blazers | |
| Playing career | 2009–present |
| Career history | |
| 2009–2011 | Portland Trail Blazers |
| 2011 | Charlotte Bobcats |
| 2011–2012 | Memphis Grizzlies |
| 2012–2014 | Minnesota Timberwolves |
| 2014–2018 | New Orleans Pelicans |
| 2018 | Brooklyn Nets |
| 2018–present | San Antonio Spurs |
| Stats at NBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Dante Lamar Cunningham (born April 22, 1987) is an American professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Villanova before being selected with the 33rd overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers.
Early life
Cunningham was born in Clinton, Maryland, to Searcy Blankenship and Ron Cunningham. His older sister Davalyn played in the WNBA.[1]
High school career
Cunningham began his prep career at St. John's College High School in Washington, D.C. While a junior, he averaged 10 points per game and 7.4 rebounds. One of his teammates, Dwayne Anderson, would later play at Villanova with Cunningham.[1]
As a senior, Cunningham transferred to Potomac High School, which he led to a 27–0 season under Head Coach Rico Reed. He averaged 13 rebounds, 20 points, and four blocked shots per game at Potomac. He was honored as the Washington Post Metropolitan Player of the Year.[1]
College career
At Villanova University, Cunningham played in all 33 games and was a starter in four during his freshman year.[1]
In his senior year, Cunningham would go on to lead the team in scoring and take home the Big East Most Improved Player award. He led the Wildcats to their first Final Four appearance since 1985.
Professional career
Portland Trail Blazers (2009–2011)
Cunningham was drafted 33rd overall by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2009 NBA draft. He played for Portland's Las Vegas Summer League team where he averaged over 18 points and 5 rebounds per game in four contests. On August 21, 2009, Cunningham signed his rookie scale contract with the Trail Blazers.[2]
Charlotte Bobcats (2011)
On February 24, 2011, Cunningham was traded, along with Joel Przybilla, Sean Marks and two future first-round draft picks, to the Charlotte Bobcats in exchange for Gerald Wallace.[3]
Memphis Grizzlies (2011–2012)
On December 20, 2011, Cunningham received a three-year, $7 million offer sheet from the Memphis Grizzlies.[4] The Bobcats declined to match the offer and subsequently signed the contract with the Grizzlies.[5]
Minnesota Timberwolves (2012–2014)
On July 24, 2012, Cunningham was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Wayne Ellington.[6]
New Orleans Pelicans (2014–2018)
On December 4, 2014, Cunningham signed with the New Orleans Pelicans.[7] On July 9, 2015, he re-signed with the Pelicans.[8] On September 25, 2017, he re-signed with the Pelicans.[9]
Brooklyn Nets (2018)
On February 8, 2018, Cunningham was traded to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Rashad Vaughn.[10]
San Antonio Spurs (2018–present)
On July 20, 2018, Cunningham signed with the San Antonio Spurs.[11]
NBA career statistics
| Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
Regular season
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009–10 | Portland | 63 | 2 | 11.2 | .495 | .000 | .646 | 2.5 | .2 | .4 | .4 | 3.9 |
| 2010–11 | Portland | 56 | 9 | 19.8 | .433 | .000 | .711 | 3.4 | .5 | .7 | .6 | 5.1 |
| 2010–11 | Charlotte | 22 | 9 | 24.0 | .508 | .111 | .765 | 4.0 | .6 | .7 | .5 | 9.0 |
| 2011–12 | Memphis | 64 | 5 | 17.6 | .516 | .000 | .652 | 3.8 | .6 | .7 | .5 | 5.2 |
| 2012–13 | Minnesota | 80 | 9 | 25.1 | .468 | .000 | .650 | 5.1 | .8 | 1.1 | .5 | 8.7 |
| 2013–14 | Minnesota | 81 | 7 | 20.2 | .464 | .000 | .567 | 4.1 | 1.0 | .8 | .7 | 6.3 |
| 2014–15 | New Orleans | 66 | 27 | 25.0 | .457 | .100 | .617 | 3.9 | .8 | .7 | .6 | 5.2 |
| 2015–16 | New Orleans | 80 | 46 | 24.6 | .451 | .316 | .695 | 3.0 | 1.0 | .5 | .4 | 6.1 |
| 2016–17 | New Orleans | 66 | 35 | 25.0 | .485 | .392 | .593 | 4.2 | .6 | .6 | .4 | 6.6 |
| 2017–18 | New Orleans | 51 | 24 | 21.9 | .440 | .324 | .556 | 3.8 | .5 | .5 | .3 | 5.0 |
| 2017–18 | Brooklyn | 22 | 1 | 20.3 | .468 | .383 | .688 | 4.8 | 1.0 | .5 | .6 | 7.5 |
| Career | 651 | 174 | 21.4 | .469 | .332 | .645 | 3.8 | .7 | .7 | .5 | 6.1 | |
Playoffs
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Portland | 5 | 0 | 8.4 | .600 | .000 | .833 | 2.6 | .0 | 1.0 | .0 | 4.6 |
| 2012 | Memphis | 7 | 0 | 7.0 | .364 | .000 | .000 | 1.6 | .0 | .1 | .3 | 1.1 |
| 2015 | New Orleans | 4 | 0 | 18.8 | .818 | .000 | 1.000 | 4.5 | .5 | .8 | 1.0 | 5.3 |
| Career | 16 | 0 | 10.4 | .595 | .000 | .889 | 2.6 | .1 | .6 | .4 | 3.3 | |
Personal life
On April 3, 2014, Cunningham was arrested for allegedly choking his girlfriend with whom he lived. Three days later, he was arrested on alleged domestic abuse charges.[12] By August 18, 2014, charges were dropped, due to evidence Cunningham's then girlfriend had fabricated her accusations.[13][14]
Cunningham was included on a preliminary list for Great Britain's Eurobasket 2009 qualifying matches in 2008.[15] However, he was later ruled ineligible to compete for Britain after an investigation by British Basketball officials into his ancestral ties failed to prove his case to receive UK citizenship.[16]
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Dante Cunningham Profile". Villanova.com. CBS Interactive. 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-29.
- ↑ Joe Freeman, Blazers sign draft pick Dante Cunningham, August 21, 2009
- ↑ "Cunningham, Przybilla, Marks, 2 First Round Picks Acquired from Portland". NBA.com. 2011-02-24. Archived from the original on 2011-06-28. Retrieved 2011-02-25.
- ↑ "Grizzlies tender offer sheet to Dante Cunningham". NBA.com. 2011-12-20. Retrieved 2011-12-22.
- ↑ "Grizzlies sign Dante Cunningham". NBA.com. 2011-12-24. Retrieved 2011-12-25.
- ↑ Wolves Acquire Dante Cunningham From Memphis
- ↑ "Pelicans Sign Dante Cunningham". NBA.com. December 4, 2014. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
- ↑ "Pelicans Re-Sign Ajinca, Asik and Cunningham". NBA.com. July 9, 2015. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
- ↑ "Pelicans re-sign Dante Cunningham". NBA.com. September 25, 2017. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
- ↑ "Brooklyn Nets Acquire Dante Cunningham From New Orleans". NBA.com. February 8, 2018. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
- ↑ "SPURS SIGN DANTE CUNNINGHAM". NBA.com. July 20, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
- ↑ Timberwolves’ Dante Cunningham arrested for second time this week
- ↑ Felony assault charge against Cunningham dropped
- ↑ NBA free agent Dante Cunningham struggles to clear name after domestic violence charge dropped
- ↑ "Gordon is named in Britain squad". BBC News. April 1, 2008. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
- ↑ MULLENS TO JOIN GB’S OLYMPIC TILT
External links
- Career statistics and player information from NBA.com, or Basketball-Reference.com