Medical expert explains why Cade Cunningham's collapsed lung likely isn't as bad as it sounds

'These guys are so athletic, they can bounce back like crazy,' a doctor told CBS Sports

Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham has been diagnosed with a collapsed left lung and will be reevaluated in two weeks, the team announced on Thursday. All things considered, this is good news for the Pistons and consistent with an injury that a young, elite athlete like Cunningham can and often does recover from at a far more rapid rate than your average person. 

"Unless there are underlying risk factors like heart disease or anything else that may make them more prone to other complications, these guys are so athletic, and their lung capacity is such that they can bounce back like crazy," Dr. Juanita Mora, a Chicago-based physician and member of the American Lung Association board of directors, told CBS Sports. 

In other words, a collapsed lung isn't necessarily as bad as it sounds?

"In most cases, that's correct," Mora said. "It's just air pressing on the lung. For [Cunningham], this sounds like a mild case. So it's usually outpatient. You're just going to follow it, make sure the symptoms [shortness of breath, chest pain, back pain] aren't getting worse. 

"If symptoms are not getting worse, you follow up in two weeks and see if the lung has expanded on its own and just completely healed itself, which in a young man like him, who is healthy and normal, is most likely the scenario that's going to occur," Mora concluded. "The body is going to heal on its own."

In more severe cases, where the air that has leaked into the space between the lungs and chest walls is not being reabsorbed by the body on its own, a chest tube may need to be inserted to drain the air. That's what happened to former NBA player Gerald Wallace during the 2008-09 season, but even then, he only wound up missing seven games. In 2014-15, Terrence Jones missed just six games with the same injury. 

More recent examples of this injury come from C.J. McCollum, who has suffered a collapsed lung on two separate occasions. The first was in 2021 when he was with the Blazers, which kept him out for 41 days and 18 games. The second was in 2023 when he was with New Orleans, when he missed 22 days and 12 games. 

Now, if Cunningham were to miss 40-ish days as McCollum did the first time, that would keep him out through April and all of the first round of the playoffs. Could Detroit get through a series against, say, the Hornets, Hawks, Heat or healthy 76ers without their superstar? Maybe. Without Cunningham, Detroit basically doesn't have an offense. It would be worrisome for sure. 

Then again, the Pistons (so far) have only put a two-week stamp on Cunningham's injury. If the timeline holds, he might only miss nine games, which would keep him eligible for All-NBA and leave him with five or six regular-season games to ramp back up for the postseason. Detroit, for now, will hold its breath.