Jalen Green wanted to be the No. 1 pick.
So did Cade Cunningham, whom the Pistons actually drafted No. 1.
Cunningham embraced Detroit’s culture. Green – who went No. 2 to the Rockets – on the other hand…
Green, via Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports:“I wanted to be the No. 1 pick, but as for the location, I didn’t want to be in Detroit,” Green told Yahoo Sports. “I felt a lot more comfortable in Houston. It felt like a real homie environment. With Detroit, it felt like I was just going back to the G League bubble, and I just got out of the bubble. That’s pretty much what it was.
“In the [G League] bubble, I didn’t really have anything to do but just stay in the gym. I didn’t have any time to get away for myself. The only time I had to get away for myself was in my apartment. That’s what it felt like in Detroit. I wouldn’t be stepping outside in Detroit. There are not many things you can do in Detroit like that. You’re going to stay in the gym and then go back to your apartment.”
I speak for everyone in Detroit when I say Green can – actually, I can’t repeat on this platform what people are saying here about Green. But he certainly made himself into a villain among fiercely proud Michiganders. Such a shame he’s casting more negativity on a great city with PLENTY to do. He might know that if he spent more than a brief visit and relied on more than Detroit’s national reputation.
Pistons fans are eager for a return to relevancy after more than a decade without winning a playoff game. They’re expecting Cunningham to lead that resurgence.
Now, they have even more reason to hope Cunningham – not Green – was the right pick.
