Recovery is looking a little differently for Detroit Pistons point guard Cade Cunningham this off-season.
After overcoming a collapsed lung in the 2025-2026 season, Cunningham is excited to be experimenting with his body a little differently so he’s able to perform at his best for the upcoming NBA season.
“Electrolytes is something I’m excited about,” the 24-year-old tells Muscle & Fitness exclusively while discussing his sports performance campaign with Thorne. “Having that in the water, being able to go with that. I’ve been trying all these different electrolyte drinks.”
While adding a little flavor and minerals to his water has helped on the court, he’s also been focusing on his body’s healing during rest, too.
“Electrolytes is the number one thing I’m looking to add more of, but the magnesium is probably my most used out of everything,” Cunningham adds. “The magnesium help my sleep a lot, especially during the season to wind down after games and get sleep. It’s tough at times, so to have something that relaxes your muscles in a good way supplies them so that they’re not cramping and stuff. All of those things helped me a lot. I noticed a big difference once I started using that more regularly.”
Cunningham injured his left lung during a March 2026 game against the Washington Wizards after colliding and falling on a loose ball. Although doctors first thought it was just bad back spasms, he was later diagnosed properly and missed 11 games in a three week time period.
During the same incident, Cunningham also broke his rib which he kept to himself initially. Now that time has passed, he admits that the injury took much more time to recover from than his lung ever did.
“I’m feeling good,” Cunningham says of his current prognosis. “My lung [and] my ribs are doing good now. My lung’s been good for some time now. My fractured ribs took some time after the season to really relax and allow it to heal, but, everything’s good now.
I’m working out hard, feeling good, so I can’t complain. It took me some time to get my cardio back going, but, having fractured ribs, the contact on those ribs is constant, so I got back to a point where my lungs felt solid, not in the best shape that I would want to be, but to a point where I could play. But my ribs, I mean, I had to deal with that.”
After losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals, Cunningham took a few weeks off to unwind and have no-contact on the court to recharge his batteries both physically and mentally.
“It was a lot of pool,” Cunningham says of his first off-season workouts. “I swam so much. I swam more in the last two months than I have in a long time, so that was good for me, especially for my lung and stuff. I tried to get my bowling game a little better. I didn’t really do golf. I used to be big on yoga. I need to add some yoga back into what I’m doing. I’ve been moving around. my training staff, we’ve been lifting and just taking care of everything. So, some yoga and some more mobility will be good for me also.”
With the regular season quickly approaching in October, Cunningham has upped his strength training again in order to be at one hundred percent come opening day.
“My strength coach Corey Schlesinger is the real deal,” says Cunningham. “We do all types of stuff. We do cables, we do kettlebells, we do calisthenics, we do everything. It’s easy to just get better whenever he’s around.”
Under Schlesinger’s guidance, Cunningham has learned how to consistently and efficiently manage the workload while getting in some needed bits of downtime during the offseason.
“During the off-season you just don’t want spikes in activity,” continues Cunningham who admits to working out hard at least five days a week but is taking breaks this summer to do things like sightsee new places. “So I’m not trying to sit down and relax for a couple of weeks and then go run 4 miles, because your body needs slow ramp ups is how I see it. So, just being consistent. Everyday get something in. Microdosing with the weights and stuff and then when your body gets to their endurance, you get heavier and heavier and it’s a slow ramp, all the way up until the season. It’s just better that way. I just try to stay cautious of doing anything too much or too little to make me get hurt.”
One other thing Cunningham and his team are looking ahead to in the 2026-2027 NBA season is playing LeBron James on his new team, the Philadelphia 76ers.
James made headlines this summer after announcing he was leaving the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent after an eight-year run with the team. James and the 76ers agreed to a two-year veteran minimum deal worth $8M.
“I think it’s cool for the league,” says Cunningham. I’m excited to play against them and see what they’re talking about. I love the competition and I think it’ll be fun.”