Chicago Bulls star point guard Lonzo Ball was once a player with a ton of promise. Now, he may be on the outs in Chicago after reports emerged about the team’s doubts about his future in the NBA.
Ball has consistently dealt with injuries over the course of his six-year NBA career, most recently missing the entirety of the 2022-23 season due to a right knee injury suffered in the 2021-22 season.
Dan Bernstein of 670 The Score recently discussed Ball’s future in Chicago on his podcast. He detailed that he has heard from sources close to the Bulls organization that they have doubts about Ball ever playing basketball again.
“The other thing I heard is that even though publicly there has been an expression of guarded optimism regarding a future for Lonzo Ball, they don’t think it is likely that he ever plays again,” said Bernstein on the Organizations Win Championships podcast.
Ball recently revealed that he will be undergoing a third surgery on his left knee in the last 14 months. This surgery will be an experimental cartilage replacement surgery, which is rather rare when it comes to professional athletes.
Bernstein pointed this out, saying that this is likely more for his “quality of life” outside of basketball rather than to help him continue his NBA career.
This isn’t the first report of concerns for his NBA future. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski detailed in March when the third surgery was reported that there are concerns about the longevity of his basketball career.
There are concerns about Ball’s ability to resume his career and hopes that this surgery — which could cost Ball another full season away — will give him a pathway to play again, sources said. ESPN reported last week that Ball was weighing procedure. https://t.co/vjTLR8MBHq
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 16, 2023
This is extremely unfortunate considering Ball has actually been a very productive player when he has been on the floor in his career. His most recent NBA season saw him averaging 13.0 points per game along with 5.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists while shooting 42 percent on three-point attempts.
[Organizations Win Championships podcast]
