Back in a late-January Lonzo Ball underwent an arthroscopic procedure to repair a torn left meniscus. The surgery was successful and the timeline for his return was around 6-8 weeks. Since his recovery started, Ball has repeatedly tried to ramp up his workload, and issues have consistently popped up. Chicago Bulls VP Artūras Karnišovas gave a quote on NBA TV that definitely doesn’t provide us with the confidence that we wanted to hear in mid-July regarding Ball.
“He’s progressing. That’s as much as I can say. He’s getting better. Probably not at the speed that we would like. But he’s getting better,” Karnišovas said. “Hopefully, he’s going to be ready for training camp. That’s just our hopes.”
As a Chicago sports fan, I do not trust any injury updates. We all went through the Kevin White saga. I hate to say it but this situation is starting to give me similar vibes.
The Bulls Are A Different Team At Full Strength
We saw how this team looked when they were battling injuries. From when Alex Caruso went down (f*ck Grayson Allen) to Lonzo all the way to LaVine. At full strength, this team can hang with the best of them. The fact that we are just a little over two months away from training camp and still don’t have a healthy Lonzo Ball is very disappointing to hear. Obviously, he can’t help it and I know he’s doing everything he can do get back. This just makes you wonder about the Dalen Terry pick and the Goran Dragic addition. It’s definitely Lonzo insurance but how long are the Bulls expecting to be without their star PG? Artūras Karnišovas latest update tells me he doesn’t even know the day, month, etc. he will get Ball back, which again is a cause for concern. At the end of the day, only time will tell as to how severe Ball’s injury was/is. Let’s shift to some good news though.
Zach LaVine said on Monday that he feels “way better” which is great to hear as he battled through that knee injury since January. If this team can stay healthy and avoid the injury bug, they should be able to make a lot of noise next year. They upgraded a few of their bench pieces and everyone outside Lonzo seems to be progressing in the right direction. But this team is just different when Ball takes the floor. His vision and passing ability unlocks a different ceiling.
Lonzo & LaVine power the @chicagobulls to 4 in a row!@ZachLaVine: 32 PTS, 8 AST@ZO2_: 20 PTS, 10 REB, 4 BLK pic.twitter.com/cGuZmK8Etq
— NBA (@NBA) December 7, 2021
I hope in two months, I’ll look back at this blog and see that I was paranoid and simply overreacting. Until then, I guess I will just have to keep on worrying.
