Detroit Pistons star point guard Cade Cunningham will miss at least the next two weeks of action due to a collapsed lung.
It isn't entirely clear when the injury occurred or how, but Cunningham left the team's game on Tuesday, March 17, against the Washington Wizards in the first quarter and didn't return. The injury could have happened in the game, or could have been the result of something before the game that he was trying to play through.
A collapsed lung is arguably one of the scariest-sounding injuries. It makes it seem like the lung isn't functioning anymore, but it really is air leaking into the space between the lung and chest, creating pressure that prevents the lung from fully inflating, causing pain and shortness of breath.
Even though the true injury isn't as bad as it sounds, it still takes time to recover from and manage, which is why Cunningham will miss extended time for the Pistons.
Here is more on Cunningham's injury and why it will cause him to miss extended time.
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Cade Cunningham collapsed lung
The Pistons announced on Thursday morning that their star point guard will be missing some time. Detroit confirmed that Cunningham has been diagnosed with a "left lung pneumothorax," also known as a collapsed lung.
The press release states that Cunningham left the team's game on Tuesday, March 17, in the first quarter and didn't return, insinuating the injury occurred then. Cunningham will be re-evaluated in two weeks.
How did Cade Cunningham get a collapsed lung?
The exact time and cause of Cunningham's collapsed lung are unknown.
Because he left the game against the Wizards in the first quarter and didn't return, the assumption is that it happened in the game. Collapsed lungs can also occur during physical therapy, so it could have been caused by something before the game, too.
This section will be updated when the cause is determined/reported.
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Cade Cunningham collapsed lung recovery timeline
Collapsed lungs are much more common in sports with high contact rates, such as the NFL. There have been some cases in the NBA, though, and in those, the average time lost for the player was 26 days, or around 11 games, per Jeff Stotts. It will come down to how quickly Cunningham can recover and ramp back up to basketball shape and extended workouts without any setbacks.
For now, the Pistons said that he will be re-evaluated in two weeks.
Athletes with a collapsed lung
The most recent high-profile collapsed lung case in sports before the Cunningham injury happened in the 2025 NFL season. Pittsburgh Steelers star T.J. Watt suffered the injury when he was getting treatment done, and it was from dry needling. He missed three games for Pittsburgh from Week 15 through Week 17, but was able to return in Week 18 for the final game of the regular season. All told, he missed just shy of a month of action.
The NBA has had cases of collapsed lungs before. Gerald Wallace and Terrence Jones both had collapsed lungs, and guard C.J. McCollum actually dealt with the injury twice.
Wallace was fouled by former Los Angeles Lakers center Andrew Bynum in mid-January 2009. He was diagnosed with a collapsed lung and didn't return until after the All-Star break on February 17. With the break happening during his injury, he missed just seven games.
Jones' injury also occurred during a game. He was initially hurt on March 19, 2015, and returned on April 1, 2015. Jones's collapsed lung was partial, which could have contributed to his quicker return than what Cunningham is looking at.
McCollum suffered a collapsed lung in both 2021 and 2023, both in his right lung. The 2021 injury sidelined him for about six weeks, and he missed 18 games. In 2023, he missed a little over three weeks, out for 12 games.
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Can Cade Cunningham win MVP?
The NBA implemented a new rule in the 2023-24 season that stated players had to play at least 65 games out of the 82-game regular season to be eligible for awards. The hope was that this would cut down on load management.
As of the injury, the Pistons had played 68 games and Cunningham had suited up for 61 of them. Detroit has 14 games left, and the star guard will have to play in four of them to be eligible to win MVP. It will come down to his recovery timeline, but if he misses 10 games and returns for the final four, he will be eligible.