Lonzo Ball updates injury status, wonders what Bulls could have been
Lonzo Ball has stayed in the background for the past year or so as he struggles with a left knee injury that has endured three surgeries since he last played for the Bulls on Jan. 14, 2022.
But he made a guest appearance Monday on Trae Young's "The Point Podcast" and spoke briefly about the status of his rehabilitation.
"Just taking it day-by-day," Ball said. "I just had a really big surgery, hopefully the last one I ever have to get. It's going to be a long process, I'm already out this whole next season."
Ball had cartilage transplant surgery on the left knee on March 20, and the team already expected him to miss next season. He has two years left on his contract, though, so it appears the Bulls are going to let it play out and hope he does return eventually.
"When I first got hurt, we didn't really know what it was," Ball said. "I was seeing all type of different doctors and stuff and I was kind of just going up and down. That was really hard for me because I just didn't know what the next day was going to be like.
"At least now, I got the surgery, we've got a plan moving forward. We've been on plan, I'm on track, so hopefully everything works out. I just leave it up to God, man, and do the best I can and live with the results for real."
Ball referenced how well the Bulls were playing at the time of his injury - a 27-13 record - and complimented the management team of Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley for putting that team together.
"It's going to be a big 'What if?' for me," Ball said. "I feel bad just for the GMs, because I feel like they made the perfect team around me. That was the most I've ever been involved in an organization. I finally got the perfect team that I felt like could fit my game and play my way and really just do what I wanted to do.
"So that injury, I'm still going through it right now, but that one messed me up early, because I felt like we really had a chance and never got to see what it was."
Ball is just 25 with 252 career NBA games under his belt, so he's clearly focused on continuing his career.
"I'm going to be hella happy to be back out there, but I never took the game for granted," he said. "I've just got to tackle it head on and whenever that time comes, I'm going to be blessed to be back out there doing what I love."
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