Dante Cunningham

Dante Lamar Cunningham (born April 22, 1987) is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Fujian Sturgeons of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball for Villanova before being selected with the 33rd overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers.

Dante Cunningham
Cunningham with the Brooklyn Nets in 2018
Free agent
PositionPower forward / Small forward
Personal information
Born (1987-04-22) April 22, 1987
Clinton, Maryland
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight230 lb (104 kg)
Career information
High school
CollegeVillanova (2005–2009)
NBA draft2009 / Round: 2 / Pick: 33rd overall
Selected by the Portland Trail Blazers
Playing career2009–present
Career history
2009–2011Portland Trail Blazers
2011Charlotte Bobcats
2011–2012Memphis Grizzlies
2012–2014Minnesota Timberwolves
2014–2018New Orleans Pelicans
2018Brooklyn Nets
2018–2019San Antonio Spurs
2019–2020Fujian Sturgeons
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

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 PostMetropolitan Player of the Year.[1]

College career
Dante Cunningham at the Palestra in Philadelphia in November 2008

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)
Cunningham with the Timberwolves in January 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 (2018–2019)

On July 20, 2018, Cunningham signed with the San Antonio Spurs.[11]

Fujian Sturgeons (2019–present)

On December 11, 2019, Cunningham was listed in the squad of Fujian Sturgeons and made his debut for Fujian Sturgeons on the next day, scoring fourteen points and collecting eight rebounds in a 111–107 win over the Beijing Ducks.[12]

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 63211.2.495–.6462.5.2.4.43.9
2010–11 Portland 56919.8.433.000.7113.4.5.7.65.1
2010–11 Charlotte 22924.0.508.111.7654.0.6.7.59.0
2011–12 Memphis 64517.6.516–.6523.8.6.7.55.2
2012–13 Minnesota 80925.1.468.000.6505.1.81.1.58.7
2013–14 Minnesota 81720.2.464.000.5674.11.0.8.76.3
2014–15 New Orleans 662725.0.457.100.6173.9.8.7.65.2
2015–16 New Orleans 804624.6.451.316.6953.01.0.5.46.1
2016–17 New Orleans 663525.0.485.392.5934.2.6.6.46.6
2017–18 New Orleans 512421.9.440.324.5563.8.5.5.35.0
2017–18 Brooklyn 22120.3.468.383.6884.81.0.5.67.5
2018–19 San Antonio 642114.5.475.462.7782.9.8.4.23.0
Career 71519520.8.469.345.6493.7.7.6.55.8

Playoffs
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2010 Portland 508.4.600.000.8332.6.01.0.04.6
2012 Memphis 707.0.364––1.6.0.1.31.1
2015 New Orleans 4018.8.818–1.0004.5.5.81.05.3
2019 San Antonio 502.6.6671.000–1.2.0.0.01.2
Career 2108.5.600.667.8892.3.1.4.32.8

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.[13] By August 18, 2014, charges were dropped, due to evidence Cunningham's then girlfriend had fabricated her accusations.[14][15]

Cunningham was included on a preliminary list for Great Britain's Eurobasket 2009 qualifying matches in 2008.[16] 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.[17]

References
  1. "Dante Cunningham Profile". Villanova.com. CBS Interactive. 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-29.
  2. Joe Freeman, Blazers sign draft pick Dante Cunningham, August 21, 2009
  3. "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.
  4. "Grizzlies tender offer sheet to Dante Cunningham". NBA.com. 2011-12-20. Retrieved 2011-12-22.
  5. "Grizzlies sign Dante Cunningham". NBA.com. 2011-12-24. Retrieved 2011-12-25.
  6. Wolves Acquire Dante Cunningham From Memphis
  7. "Pelicans Sign Dante Cunningham". NBA.com. December 4, 2014. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
  8. "Pelicans Re-Sign Ajinca, Asik and Cunningham". NBA.com. July 9, 2015. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
  9. "Pelicans re-sign Dante Cunningham". NBA.com. September 25, 2017. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  10. "Brooklyn Nets Acquire Dante Cunningham From New Orleans". NBA.com. February 8, 2018. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
  11. "SPURS SIGN DANTE CUNNINGHAM". NBA.com. July 20, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  12. "Fujian upsets Beijing 111-107 in CBA". xinhuanet.com. December 12, 2019. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  13. Timberwolves' Dante Cunningham arrested for second time this week
  14. Felony assault charge against Cunningham dropped
  15. "NBA free agent Dante Cunningham struggles to clear name after domestic violence charge dropped". Archived from the original on 2014-10-23. Retrieved 2014-10-23.
  16. "Gordon is named in Britain squad". BBC News. April 1, 2008. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
  17. MULLENS TO JOIN GB'S OLYMPIC TILT
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