Detroit Pistons executive vice president of basketball operations Michael Blackstone opened up about his cancer diagnosis. Photo courtesy of Michael Blackstone
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Michael Blackstone sat alone. He was crying on the porch of his Florida home.
As he explained it, the emotion of his diagnosis had been building. Some 36 hours earlier, doctors told Blackstone they had found cancer, Stage 4, in his lung. Not only is lung cancer the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States, but also the five-year survival rate for someone with late-stage or metastatic, or late-stage non-small cell lung cancer — which Blackstone has — is 12 percent.
That was 2023, when Blackstone was still with New Orleans as the Pelicans’ vice president of basketball administration. His family was in New Orleans, and he traveled to his home in Florida, where his primary care was. So, he confided in a friend who was all too familiar with cancer’s cruelty.
Now, the Detroit Pistons’ executive vice president of basketball operations, Blackstone is speaking publicly because he wants to encourage people to take aches and pains seriously, instead of pushing them aside, and to advocate for their care. In his case, what started as a pain in his right shoulder turned out to be cancer that had metastasized from his lung to his shoulder and spine.
“The reason I’m talking about it now versus the past three years is because time is basically all I have now, right?” the 54-year-old told The Athletic. “Time is what matters. … If I didn’t pay attention to the discomfort I was having and ask a very innocent question, I wouldn’t be here right now. It was already Stage 4 when we found it; it had already gone too far.”
The innocent question: What’s wrong with me?
He had to push for a PET scan — a powerful imaging tool used to detect cancer — that finally led to his diagnosis.
“If I actually went with what I was told initially and didn’t actually demand the scan in combination with my doctor, I wouldn’t be talking to you right now,” Blackstone said.
He is currently under the care of doctors at the Mayo Clinic.
He accepted his role with the Pistons without knowing how long he’d have to assemble a competent roster alongside general manager Trajan Langdon, who brought him along to Detroit from New Orleans in 2024.
Blackstone, who has never smoked, said his love of basketball and Detroit has helped carry him through his radiation treatments. He plans to continue working. He sees it as choosing to fight his diagnosis while simultaneously fighting to reshape the Pistons into a title contender.
Blackstone said he sees beauty in facing his cancer in a city like Detroit — one known for the grit and resilience of its people.
“That should tell you how special I think this (team) is,” Blackstone said. “It’s kind of apropos, in this very morbid way, that I would be here (in Detroit) fighting through what I’m fighting through in a place like this, which is all about the fight.”
Things have changed since Blackstone’s diagnosis. His time is now more precious. He tries to maintain a positive mindset and is more mindful of his well-being. But naturally, some fear still exists.
“This logic side of my brain sort of dominates; it helps me get through what this whole thing is,” Blackstone said. “It is what it is, I have what I have. I don’t control any of it; there’s nothing I can do. I do what the doctors tell me to do. I ask a ton of questions. … The truth is, if it all ended tomorrow, I’ve lived a great life.
“I am so lucky with the types of things I’ve been able to do. … The people I’ve met, the places we’ve gone, the friends I have, the support system, this job, the people (in Detroit) — all the way down the line. Of course, I don’t want it to end tomorrow, and nobody is telling me it’s going to.”
Blackstone can still be found patrolling the halls of the Pistons Performance Center, usually on a call or en route to a boardroom to discuss the evolution of Detroit’s roster. He has routinely been at home and road shootarounds, practices and games to evaluate what this roster needs to contend. He even kept his diagnosis from Pistons staffers, choosing only to share the news in recent weeks.
“I love life,” he said. “On my saddest day, I’ve never, ever thought, ‘I want out.’ I just want to be here as long as I can. … How are we going to attack this, and how do I just keep living my life?
“I don’t want to sit in my house and just wait and wallow away. So, I’m trying to live as normal a life as I possibly can, knowing I’ve got to make some changes.”
Though he understands the severity of his diagnosis, he wants to make clear that although he has cancer, cancer doesn’t have him. Blackstone said he’s vowed to fight with everything he has.
“There’s hope,” he said. “There’s hope because of different advancements made, especially in lung cancer, that we could ultimately get to the place where this becomes a chronic disease versus a death sentence. … Pay attention to the signs, don’t ignore them.”
“My drive is to do everything I can for this team, keep doing my job as long as I possibly can at a high level, but also try to help as many people as I possibly can. There’s only one way to do that, and that’s with awareness. If I can get one person to do a double take, to have a conversation, to go to their doctor, to make different choices, it will all be worth it — even if I don’t know about it.”
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Hunter Patterson is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the Detroit Pistons. Before joining the NBA staff, Hunter was an editor on The Athletic’s news desk and provided occasional Sacramento Kings coverage. Prior to The Athletic, he worked for the NBA as a broadcasting assistant. Hunter graduated from Loyola Marymount University and earned his master’s degree in Specialized Journalism at the University of Southern California. You can follow Hunter on X @HunterPatterson.
