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Dante Cunningham
Dante Cunningham.jpg
Cunningham with the Brooklyn Nets in 2018
Free agent
Power forward / small forward
Personal information
Born (1987-04-22) April 22, 1987 (age 37)
Clinton, Maryland, U.S.
High school
Listed height 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight 230 lb (104 kg)
Career information
College Villanova (2005–2009)
NBA Draft 2009 / Round: 2 / Pick: 33rd overall
Selected by the Portland Trail Blazers
Pro 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
2018–2019 San Antonio Spurs
2019–2020 Fujian Sturgeons
2021 Cangrejeros de Santurce
2021–2022 Le Mans Sarthe Basket
2022–2024 Changwon LG Sakers

Dante Lamar Cunningham (born April 22, 1987) is an American professional basketball player. 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.

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.

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.

College career

Dante Cunningham at the Palestra in Philadelphia PA in 2008
Dante Cunningham at the Palestra in Philadelphia in November 2008

At Villanova Cunningham played in all 33 games and was a starter in four during his freshman year.

In his senior year, Cunningham would go on to lead the team in scoring with 16.1 points and take home the Big East Most Improved Player award. He led the Wildcats to their first Final Four appearance since 1985. Cunningham was named to the 2008–2009 All Big East second team and the 2009 NCAA Tournament All Region .

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.

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.

Memphis Grizzlies (2011–2012)

On December 20, 2011, Cunningham received a three-year, $7 million offer sheet from the Memphis Grizzlies. The Bobcats declined to match the offer and subsequently signed the contract with the Grizzlies.

Minnesota Timberwolves (2012–2014)

20140101 Dante Cunningham3
Cunningham with the Timberwolves in January 2014

On July 24, 2012, Cunningham was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Wayne Ellington.

New Orleans Pelicans (2014–2018)

On December 4, 2014, Cunningham signed with the New Orleans Pelicans. On July 9, 2015, he re-signed with the Pelicans. On September 25, 2017, he re-signed with the Pelicans.

Brooklyn Nets (2018)

On February 8, 2018, Cunningham was traded to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Rashad Vaughn.

San Antonio Spurs (2018–2019)

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

Fujian Sturgeons (2019–2020)

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. He averaged 15 points and 7 rebounds per game.

Cangrejeros de Santurce (2021)

On July 7, 2021, Cunningham signed with the Cangrejeros de Santurce of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional. In 10 games, he averaged 11.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.1 assists per game.

Le Mans Sarthe Basket (2021–2022)

On August 27, 2021, Cunningham signed with Le Mans Sarthe Basket of the LNB Pro A.

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 .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 .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
2018–19 San Antonio 64 21 14.5 .475 .462 .778 2.9 .8 .4 .2 3.0
Career 715 195 20.8 .469 .345 .649 3.7 .7 .6 .5 5.8

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 1.6 .0 .1 .3 1.1
2015 New Orleans 4 0 18.8 .818 1.000 4.5 .5 .8 1.0 5.3
2019 San Antonio 5 0 2.6 .667 1.000 1.2 .0 .0 .0 1.2
Career 21 0 8.5 .600 .667 .889 2.3 .1 .4 .3 2.8

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

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

See also

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