Detroit Pistons Star Cade Cunningham Out After ‘Freak’ Injury Against Wizards

The Detroit Pistons are going to be without their star player and team leader after he suffered a freak injury during a recent game.

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Cade Cunningham is out for at least the next two weeks with a collapsed lung.

The injury happened on Tuesday's game against the Washington Wizards.

Cunningham dove for a loose ball and collided with Wizards guard Tre Johnson.

What Is A Collapsed Lung?

A collapsed lung is known medically as a pneumothorax, is essentially what happens when air gets into the space between your lung and your chest wall.

A good way to understand a collapsed lung is to think of it like this.

Think of your chest like a room and your lung like a balloon inside it.

Normally, the "balloon" is pressed tight against the walls.

If a leak develops and air starts filling the room around the balloon, the pressure pushes against it until it can't expand, causing it to deflate or collapse.

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This type of injury can happen in two different ways.

From the Outside (Injury): A traumatic event like a car accident, a broken rib, or a puncture wound (like a gunshot or stab) that lets outside air into the chest cavity.

This is what happened to Cunningham.

The other way is from the Inside (Spontaneous): Small air blisters (called blebs) on the surface of the lung can pop.

This is common in tall, thin young men or people with lung diseases like COPD or asthma.

The Detroit Pistons said they will reevaluate Cunningham in two weeks.

With the Playoffs starting in about four weeks. hopefully that will be enough time for Cunningham to recover and be ready to make a run at an NBA Championship.