CJ McCollum Diagnosed With A Small Pneumothorax In His Right Lung

The New Orleans Pelicans have gotten off to a solid start to their season, going 4-2 in the first two weeks, following the lead of their trio of stars as Zion Williamson, CJ McCollum, and Brandon Ingram are all averaging over 20 points per game.

Injuries have been the primary cause for concern in New Orleans in recent years, and they’ve already dealt with some absences from Ingram to start the year — along with Trey Murphy III working his way back from knee surgery. One of the few constants in the lineup last year was McCollum, as he played 75 games, but he will miss at least a bit of time this week after being diagnosed with a small pneumothorax in his right lung, as the team announced on Sunday.

The New Orleans Pelicans announced today that guard CJ McCollum has been diagnosed with small pneumothorax in his right lung after medical imaging was taken this morning. Additional examination will be performed in the next 48 hours to determine the progress of healing. More information will be provided following examination.

A pneumothorax, per the National Institute of Health, is “a collection of air outside the lung but within the pleural cavity” which can cause the lung to collapse. As the release notes, McCollum will be evaluated further over the next two days, which would indicate he will at least miss New Orleans’ next game against the Nuggets and potentially more as they determine how it will heal and the treatment plan. As for McCollum, he seems to at least be in good spirits as he took to Twitter after the news broke to laugh at a wild picture choice from a news aggregation account.

McCollum is averaging 21.7 points, 5.7 assists, and 4.8 rebounds per game in the first six contests for the Pelicans, and is their steady-handed veteran in the backcourt.