CHICAGO — Chicago Bulls guard Coby White underwent left shoulder surgery Thursday to repair damage suffered during basketball activities away from the team last weekend.
The team announced the surprise injury news after White had a successful surgery Thursday afternoon. He will be reevaluated in four months.
That timetable could put White’s season opener in jeopardy, as four months would place his reevaluation in the middle of October.
The NBA hopes to get its schedule back on track after the pandemic altered the league structure in 2020. Training camp is expected to begin Sept. 28 with the regular season set to tip off Oct. 19, according to The Athletic.
White endured his share of growing pains in his second season, averaging 15.1 points and 4.8 assists per game while shooting 41.6% from the field and 35.9% from 3. After spending most of his rookie season coming off the bench, he picked up a lot of experience as a starter this year, beginning 54 of his 69 games in the lineup. His acclimation into the first unit was slow. But after an erratic start to the season, he showed signs of settling into the position near season’s end.
However, the Bulls already were going to be faced with pressure to improve the production from the point guard position. White’s injury seems likely to increase such urgency.
