Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball is anticipated to sit out the entire 2023–24 NBA season due to ongoing left knee problems.
“Going into the offseason, I think our expectation is that he’s not coming back next season and he’s going to continue on his recovery,” executive vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas said in a press conference Thursday following the 2023 NBA Draft. “If he comes back, it would be great.”
Following a meniscus tear in his left knee sustained during a 42-point defeat to the Golden State Warriors on January 14, 2022, Ball hasn’t played since. It was his third treatment on the same knee in 14 months when he got a cartilage transplant in his left knee in March. While Ball is “recovering nicely” and quit using crutches last month, according to Karnišovas, he “does not think he will be back next season.”
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Ball had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in January 2022 as a result of tearing his meniscus; he was supposed to be back on the field in 6–8 weeks, but he missed the rest of the 2021–22 season due to pain he experienced while recovering. Prior to the 2022–23 season, he underwent an arthroscopic debridement in the same knee, but the Bulls ended his season in February before he ever got back on the court because he couldn’t play without pain.
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Ball underwent a scope on the same knee in 2018 while playing for the Los Angeles Lakers. Despite the most recent setback, Karniovas expressed his confidence that Ball will eventually return. “Eventually you are going to see him on the basketball court,” Karnišovas said Thursday.
Ball, the No. 2 pick overall in the 2017 draft by the Lakers, was exchanged for Anthony Davis from the Pelicans in order to bring Davis to Los Angeles. Ball’s greatest season was in 2020–21, when he averaged 14.6 points, 5.7 assists, 4.8 rebounds, and continued to become better with his 3-point shot while playing for the Pelicans.
