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.[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
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.[1]
In his senior year, Cunningham would go on to lead the team in scoring with 16.1 points and take home the Big EastMost 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.[2]
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]
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]
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] He averaged 15 points and 7 rebounds per game.[13]
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.[15] By August 18, 2014, charges were dropped, due to evidence Cunningham's then girlfriend had fabricated her accusations.[16][17]
Cunningham was included on a preliminary list for Great Britain's Eurobasket 2009 qualifying matches in 2008.[18] 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.[19]
