Bulls coach Donovan says LaVine has dealt with swelling in knee
With Zach LaVine getting his sore left knee checked out Tuesday in Los Angeles, Bulls coach Billy Donovan tried to update the condition of his all-star guard.
"The biggest issue right now is he has soreness in his knee, but he swells after games sometimes and sometimes he doesn't," Donovan said. "So I think getting to the bottom of some of that stuff."
Donovan said LaVine will get checked out by the same doctor who repaired his left ACL in 2017, which is Dr. Neal ElAttrache, according to the Timberwolves.
LaVine missed five games after coming down wrong in the Golden State game on Jan. 14. Donovan said the knee bothered him after the Minnesota game last Friday, then LaVine sat out Saturday against Oklahoma City.
"He just felt like it would give him peace of mind to go out there and really take a deeper dive on this," Donovan said. "I respect him and appreciate him doing that.
"I think one of the things that's been great here with our medical staff is they want players to feel comfortable with second opinions and having our doctors involved."
LaVine had an MRI, so the Bulls feel reasonably comfortable there is no structural damage. Donovan confirmed LaVine will not play Wednesday against Sacramento, the Bulls' final game before the break.
"He played a couple games ago," Donovan said. "So we feel pretty confident about the structural part of his knee. But listen, there's a lot of things that the doctor that he'll go see knows, can kind of maybe pinpoint what some of the challenges and issues are. I think he'd like to feel better more consistently than he has."
Pop praises LaVine D:
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich headed the Olympic team last summer and praised Zach LaVine for becoming a role player during the Tokyo Games.
"We needed somebody who could defend," Popoovich said before Monday's game. "We needed somebody who could basically defend full court, get into somebody, cause disruptions, take them out of an offense, and then on the offensive end, really run the floor and create the pace that foreign teams wouldn't be able to handle.
"And quote-unquote, 'Pop, just tell me what you want me to do and I'll do it.' He said that to me five times during the deal. For him to just totally, mentally flip it and do exactly what we asked him to do I thought was pretty impressive and we really appreciated it. He did it very, very well. He was like an X-factor."
Bulls notes:
According to the New York Post, the Bulls showed interest in Knicks center Mitchell Robinson before the trade deadline. It makes sense, since the Bulls could use a defensive-minded backup center, but Robinson was the guy who knocked out Patrick Williams in Game 5 of the season with a flagrant foul. ... During Monday's game, the Bulls announced Bob Love, 79, is retiring from the team ambassador role he's held for many years. ... Zach LaVine's participation in Sunday's All-Star Game in unclear. On Monday, the league named Cleveland center Jarrett Allen to replace James Harden.
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