The Lonzo Ball update nobody wanted has arrived.
According to ESPN’s Jamal Collier and Ramona Shelburne, the Chicago Bulls point guard is expected to miss the entirety of training camp and is officially doubtful for the start of the regular season.
The update comes after months of mystery around Ball’s recovery efforts. While members of the Bulls’ organization have said that he’s made “progress,” they have kept the extent of that progress under wraps. However, it’s now more than clear that issues with his knee have remained, and the team will have to start the regular season without one of their most pivotal players.
Ball first underwent surgery for a torn meniscus at the end of January. His recovery was supposed to take somewhere between six to eight weeks, but discomfort during his ramp up of basketball activities kept him off the court for the remainder of the season. According to ESPN, that discomfort has only continued over the summer, causing him to see multiple different specialists.
Ball will arrive in Chicago next week to undergo further evaluation by the team, but he is unlikely to participate when the Bulls begin training camp at the end of this month, sources said.
Throughout the summer, the Bulls have remained vague about a potential timeline for Ball’s recovery while he has seen multiple knee specialists to determine the cause and treatments for the lingering pain and discomfort, sources said.
Due to how quiet the Bulls have been on the matter, this news isn’t necessarily the most shocking. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t feel like a massive gut punch.
We all saw how important Ball was to this team’s two-way success last season. Considering the improvement of several Eastern Conference teams and the difficult early-season schedule ahead of the Bulls, not knowing when Ball will return is a scary thought.
The good news is the team is at least deep at the guard position and will have weeks to prepare for life without their gifted playmaker. But we simply will not see the best version of the Chicago Bulls until Ball is back on the court. And that sucks.