The Detroit Pistons postseason chances took a hit when star guard Cade Cunningham was sidelined with a collapsed lung after a recent game against the Washington Wizards.
At the same time, the MVP candidate's All-NBA hopes also took a hit after the harsh reality that the playmaker had likely played his last regular season game of the season.
With a 65-game rule recently implemented, the former top pick's dominant season would likely fall short of All-NBA honors due to only playing 61 games this season before going down with injury.
As a result, Cunningham and his agent Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports openly made their stance clear on how unfair it would be for the Pistons star to not receive an All-NBA nod over a mere four games.
Unfortunately, any hope that a rule change could be on the horizon or for Cunningham to be an exception to the 65-game rule was put to rest by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who made his rebuttal on the guard's situation.
Adam Silver doesn't think the 65-game rule needs to be changed yet
In a recent interview, Silver ended the hopes of Cunningham's All-NBA dreams for this season after suggesting a rule change wasn't necessary solely due to this certain instance for Cunningham:
"I'm not ready to say it's not working. It is working," Silver said. "I'm not ready to say because there is a sense of unfairness for one player, that the rule doesn't work."
At the end of the day, this is likely not what Cunningham, his team or the fanbase hoped to hear, especially after the season the Oklahoma State product put together.
Still, while there's surely financial implications that will likely frustrate the guard and his camp, it's clear that there's a good chance that a first-team All-NBA season is coming in the very near future.
Then again, Cunningham could take matters into his own hands and force an issue the league will have to consider.
Cunningham still could return, even if the chances seem slim right now
Up to this point, there hasn't been any further update on the guard and a potential return to action.
In fact, many thought that his camp's pursuit of a rule change suggested he would miss the rest of the season.
Nonetheless, with recent post circulating around social media of him putting in some non-contact work, there still seems to be an outside chance he could return in the regular season.
The guard is bound to be reevaluated in the coming days, and an update could put his All-NBA hopes back on track.