Lonzo Ball hasn’t played basketball since January 14 — nearly the turn of the calendar into 2022.
He’s been dealing with a mysterious left knee injury that nobody really knows what to make of, except for the fact that it’s very clearly much more concerning than anyone initially thought it would be.
It started as a “small meniscus tear” that only should’ve taken 6-8 weeks, at most, to recover from after surgery. Now, we’re here. And Ball is going to miss the start of the season after having an “arthroscopic debridement” on that same knee. Super concerning stuff.
There’s finally some good news on the Ball front, though. He’s officially had the surgery and he’ll miss a few months of the season. But the Bulls think he’ll be able to play this year, per The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
Sources: There is confidence in Bulls guard Lonzo Ball's ability to return this season following left knee surgery on Wednesday that doctors believe addressed the issue. Ball is expected to miss at least a few months.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 29, 2022
He’ll be on the road to recovery, but it sounds like there’s at least a shot that he comes back this season.
Still, you can’t help but be concerned when you see how Ball talks about his injury. He spoke about his injury honestly earlier this week in an interview with The Athletic’s Darnell Mayberry and basketball is completely out of the question right now.
“I still can’t play basketball…I can’t run or jump. There’s a range from, like, 30 to 60 degrees when my knee is bent that I have no force. And I can’t catch myself. So until I can do those things, I can’t play.”
Those seem like pretty low bars to clear for an NBA player. And the fact that he couldn’t shows us exactly how dire this situation is and why it required another surgery. It’s especially terrifying considering the fact that it’s the same knee he had surgery on in 2018.
He’s important to what the Bulls do. He’s arguably the best perimeter defender on the team — the Bulls’ defensive rating was 8.1 points per 100 possessions worse without him. They need him.
Hopefully, he can get back and be healthy as soon as possible.
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