JANUARY 26: Ball will have surgery this Friday, January 28, according to coach Billy Donovan, K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago tweets. As Donovan previously noted, Ball’s six-to-eight week recovery timeline will begin once the injury is repaired.
JANUARY 21: Bulls head coach Billy Donovan told reporters, including K.C. Johnson and Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago (Twitter links), that Ball will have surgery next week and will rehab and do strength work in the meantime. Donovan also clarified that Ball is suffering from a bone bruise as well as a torn meniscus, and the six-to-eight week recovery timeline will start once he has the procedure.
JANUARY 20, 12:48pm: The Bulls have confirmed in a press release that Ball will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee following an “initial period of rest and targeted intervention.” He’s expected to return to action in about six-to-eight weeks, according to the team.
JANUARY 20, 9:43am: Bulls guard Lonzo Ball has been diagnosed with a small meniscus tear in his left knee and is considering his treatment options, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter links).
As Charania explains, there’s a possibility that Ball will be able to play through the injury while team doctors keep an eye on his knee, but if that’s not deemed viable, he’ll undergo surgery and would miss several weeks. Ball underwent arthroscopic surgery to address a similar injury in the same knee during July of 2018, K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago notes (via Twitter).
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter links), the Bulls and Ball are expected to finalize a decision within the next couple days. If he goes under the knife, the 24-year-old would probably be sidelined for about four-to-six weeks, sources tell Wojnarowski.
As we relayed on Wednesday night, head coach Billy Donovan told reporters that the initial treatment plan on Ball’s knee injury was unsuccessful and that team doctors were waiting to see how the knee responded to the new treatment before making any decisions on a course of action and recovery timeline. Ball isn’t accompanying the team on its three-game road trip to Milwaukee (Friday), Orlando (Sunday), and Oklahoma City (Monday).
In his first season in Chicago, Ball is averaging 13.0 PPG, 5.4 RPG, and 5.1 APG on .423/.423/.750 in 35 games (34.6 MPG). He has been the team’s full-time starter at the point and has played a key role in the team’s turnaround, along with fellow newcomers DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso.
While Ball’s diagnosis isn’t great news for the Bulls, the team did get Caruso back in its lineup on Wednesday night following a 13-game absence due to foot and hamstring injuries, as well as a stint in the health and safety protocols. Caruso’s role would increase if Ball misses a significant period of time, with Ayo Dosunmu and Coby White also playing important minutes.
Bulls – curse.
yes…cursed…it’s been so long since they won 6 back to back championships. should we hold a vigil?
Been awhile since MJ, pal.
Okay then let’s also talk about a Hawks curse, Knicks curse, Suns curse, Jazz curse, Nuggets curse, Nets, Pacers, Blazers, Wizards, 76ers…
Is it still a curse when it affects more than half the league? jw…
The Bulls won how many back to back?
Every one of their six championships was either preceded or followed by a championship.
Or is there another definition of back to back?
He was thinking back to back to back to back to back to back LOL
You know, for all of the garbage this kid put up with in his first couple of years in the league (his dad, those horrible shoes, his shot mechanics are horrible), I’ve got to give Lonzo credit. He went from a 30% 3 point shooter in year one to shooting 42% this year. That’s not just an outlier either, over the five years he’s gone .305, .329, .375, .378, .423. I wasn’t a fan at first, but now I am.
He efficiency has gone up, but he’s now a 3 and D PG, not a stat sheet guy like his brother. No disrespect, he’s good at what he’s doing. His ceiling though was hyped too much. Rather have him than Simmons when you don’t account for health.
I agree. He stayed quiet, put in the work, and is now seeing the benefit. He’s going to be a great player in the league for a long time to come. What’s crazier is that his brother has an even higher ceiling.
“Great?” No…more like decent when healthy.
I think that this year, we will not have the last man standing and will be first year probably that not even one person will play all games.
Unless they think there’s a very high probability he can recover without surgery at all, just get it done. With Caruso, Coby, and Ayo healthy and playing well, they can weather his absence now and get him back in plenty of time to get back into the swing of things before the playoffs.
Ayo has shown he is a true Point at this moment, so if Ayo keep on playing like he has then the loss of Ball will be less than expected.
must of felt like there was a chance he was gonna be traded ay.lol
I’m a say it befo Lavar Ball say it, “he’s the best player ever to have knee surgery. Might not even need no recovery time.”
What kind of knee surgery do they do for players at this level? Only asking as someone who had meniscus torn and they just cut out what was torn, but I feel given his future earning potential he’s gotta have more resources then that.
D wade regretted it.
His dad was never a permanent obstacle… maybe not even a temporary one!
Bulls can trade with Pistons for Grant & they will give them Hayes.
This is what happens when you have guards playing D against PF’s. They get hurt. Green, Ball,Caruso, Jones all were asked to guard bigger guys for far too long. Having said that, This wasn’t expected to be a Championship run yet but might of been with a little help earlier. Hindsight is always 20/20.