Way before Damian Lillard joined the Milwaukee Bucks this summer to team up with Giannis Antetokounmpo, the seven-time All-Star had a different partner-in-crime with the Portland Trail Blazers. For many years, Dame formed one of the most dangerous backcourts in the NBA with former teammate CJ McCollum, who for his part, is now playing his trade with the New Orleans Pelicans.
These two formed quite a bond during their time together in Portland, which is exactly why Lillard is likely feeling concerned with the latest injury news about his buddy.
Milwaukee Bucks Star Damian Lillard’s Ex-Teammate Diagnosed With Collapsed Lung
News broke on Sunday evening that McCollum had been diagnosed with a collapsed lung. NBA insider Shams Charania was one of the first to report the news via Twitter:
“Pelicans say CJ McCollum has been diagnosed with a small collapsed right lung. He will undergo additional examination in the next 48 hours to determine the progress of healing,” Shams said in his tweet.
This is obviously a terrible turn of events for the Pelicans, who will now be without McCollum for the foreseeable future as he undergoes more tests to determine the extent of his injury.
This is even worse news for McCollum, who is now dealing with a collapsed lung for the second time in his career. It’s the same right lung that had a similar problem back in 2021 when the former Most Improved Player winner was forced to miss 17 games because of the injury.
For his part, however, McCollum appears to be in good spirits. He took to Twitter to hilariously call out a news outlet for posting a rather inappropriate photo of himself along with the news of his collapsed lung:
This is an insane pic to post with the news 😂 https://t.co/wcjiOKRvhh
— CJ McCollum (@CJMcCollum) November 5, 2023
In all seriousness, though, we’re all praying that McCollum pulls through from this injury and that it does not pose a significant threat to his basketball career.
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