Pistons star Cade Cunningham has been diagnosed with a collapsed lung, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link), who reports that the guard is expected to miss an “extended” period of time as a result of the health issue.
Cunningham, a two-time All-Star who has had an MVP-caliber season as the leader of the 49-19 Pistons, exited Tuesday’s win over Washington early due to what were referred to at the time as back spasms. Cunningham was ruled out for Thursday’s rematch vs. the Wizards with his injury designation updated to a left back contusion, but Charania’s report suggests his condition is more serious than that.
A collapsed lung isn’t a common ailment among NBA players, but veteran guard CJ McCollum has dealt with the issue twice in recent years and could provide a point of reference for Cunningham’s recovery period.
When McCollum was diagnosed with a collapsed lung in 2021, he missed 18 games over the course of about six weeks. Two years later, when he received a similar diagnosis, he sat out for about three-and-a-half weeks and missed 12 games.
More to come…