C.J. McCollum is battling lung problems and will be sidelined for the time being – for the second time in his career. The New Orleans Pelicans guard has been diagnosed with a pneumothorax in his right lung
As the Pelicans announced, the diagnosis came after extensive examinations on Sunday. The day before, he had played a good 33 minutes for the Pelicans in his team’s 105-123 loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
A pneumothorax is when air enters the space between the lungs and the chest wall. This air presses on the outside of the lung and causes it to collapse. A pneumothorax can be a complete lung collapse or a collapse of part of the lung.
Unfortunately, this diagnosis is nothing new for McCollum. The 32-year-old was diagnosed with pneumothorax back in December 2021. At the time, he was still in the service of the Portland Trail Blazers and, according to the team, he was fully recovered after around two and a half weeks. He finally returned to the court three weeks after the diagnosis
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It is still unclear how long he will be out for. The Pelicans stated in their press release that McCollum will undergo further examinations in the next 48 hours, after which an update will be released.
In six games so far this season, McCollum has averaged 21.7 points, 5.7 assists and 4.8 rebounds, making him the team’s second-best scorer behind Zion Williamson (22.2 points per game). New Orleans started the season with four wins and two defeats
