Will Chicago Bulls’ Lonzo Ball be ready to play at the start of the 2022-23 NBA season?
The Chicago Bulls have just started their first preparations for the upcoming season, but it looks as they will so with out star guard Lonzo Ball.
It’s Bad News Bulls in the Windy City after reports out of Chicago claim that All-Star Point Guard Lonzo Ball will likely be heading to the operating room to repair an injured knee.
Surgery number three for Ball
The former Los Angeles Laker spent much of the offseason looking for alternate ways to heal his left knee that has been giving him problems since 2018. After seeing different specialists and rehabbing his knee in hopes that he would be ready to go for the 2022 season, it was decided that going under the knife would be the best option.
Ball already had surgery in attempts to repair the damage to his knee this January, but the pain still lingers. In total this will be the third time he has had surgery on his left knee since he came into the league in 2017.
“For me, this will be my third surgery, so this time around I really don’t want to rush anything,” he said.
Ball won’t be rushed back to action
The Bulls playmaker told reporters that running and jumping hurts, but so do everyday things like walking up stairs.
“I’ve never felt pain like this or was able to ramp up a little bit but never fully, so definitely a unique situation. The doctors and the Bulls, we’re all trying to figure out what it is. Like I said, we all came to the conclusion that it’s time for surgery.”
Ball is set to have arthroscopic surgery on his knee on Wednesday, and there is no time table to when he is expected to make his return, although the Bulls did say he would reevaluated in four to six week.
While the Bulls will be eager to get their superstar back, neither party want to force a comeback until the injury has been fully healed and won’t cause further problems in the future.
Tip off to the new season starts on Oct. 18th
“From my understanding they’re going in there to see what it is,” Ball said. “Because it’s not necessarily showing up on the MRI, but it’s clear that there’s something there that’s not right. So they’re going to go in, look at it, and whatever needs to be done is going to be done.”
Chicago held their first practice of the season on Tuesday, but Ball wasn’t not present as he was in Los Angeles getting ready for Wednesday’s surgery. Preseason games will begin on the 30th of September, and the first games of the regular season will tip off on the 18th of October.