NEWSLETTER
It would appear we have a potential Lonzo Ball timeline for a return to the Bulls! At least according to Lonzo’s dad, LaVar.
The outspoken LaVar Ball was on 670 The Score’s Parkins & Spiegel Show on Friday to provide an update on his son’s knee and where he stands in the recovery process. Lonzo, of course, hasn’t played since the 2021-22 season due to a knee injury that includes a nerve problem. Courtesy of 670 The Score, here’s what LaVar Ball had to say:
Unpacking LaVar Ball’s Comments on Lonzo Ball
So while LaVar Ball has always been on the more optimistic side when talking about Lonzo’s knee injury and his sons’ basketball careers, there are some pretty noteworthy comments from him in this interview on The Score.
For starters, all signs seem to be pointing toward a return for Lonzo at some point next year. LaVar said the hope for Lonzo to be cleared for full 5v5 contact would be in 4-5 months which would line up with next season’s camp. Now, does that mean he’d be in game shape right away and ready for opening night? Maybe not. It would also mean that pretty much every step of the way in the rehab process would need to go off without a hitch, which if we’ve learned anything from Lonzo’s recovery process it’s that complications could arise.
LaVar also indicated that he doesn’t really worry about Lonzo or the state of his game when he does indeed return. I hope he’s right, but I have a hard time believing, at least right away, that we’ll see a version of Lonzo that’s close to where he was when he first got hurt. Expecting him to miss close to three full years with a knee injury and just be his old self again is unrealistic.
Can he come back and be the maestro this offense has needed? Thanks to the emergence of Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu, that’s certainly possible. But he’ll almost certainly have to be eased back into that role, and even then who knows how his knee will hold up.
I didn’t think too much about his comments on Lonzo’s rehab process and what went wrong there. For it to take nearly three years though, clearly something went wrong. But hindsight is always 20/20. When it comes down to it, doctors probably know better about rehabbing a knee injury than LaVar Ball does.
LaVar did indeed say that he fully expects Lonzo to play for the Bulls next season, which is a positive thing. That also does pretty much confirm what we’ve essentially known that Ball will opt into the final year of his contract that pays him $21.4 million in 2024-25. When Lonzo’s deal is up, LaVar indicated that Lonzo would like to stay with the Bulls, though it’s always “been his dream” to team up with his brother LaMelo.
Now, LaVar has been trying to manifest his sons all on the same NBA team since they were originally coming up through college. So that last part I take with a grain of salt. I’m sure Lonzo certainly would like to play with his brother at some point, but I don’t think that will be his TOP priority. However, we still have a long way to go until that point, so let’s just get him back on the court first. For what it’s worth, LaMelo is set to be a restricted free agent after this season, and Charlotte can give him a five-year, $204 million max extension.
As of this writing, the full interview isn’t up on The Score’s website yet, but when it is you can listen to LaVar Ball’s full interview with the Parkins & Spiegel Show here.
