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The Chicago Bulls will look to get back to the postseason in 2022-23 behind a strong scoring backcourt featuring DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine. One player the Bulls hope to have at some point this season is point guard Lonzo Ball, who is battling a knee injury. Here are the latest updates on Ball’s status as he tries to get back on the court.
Lonzo Ball injury updates
December 14 update: Well this is not an update Bulls fans will like. According to Adrian Wojnarowski, Lonzo Ball might not play at all this season and that seems to be the prevailing rhetoric coming from the United Center throughout the year. Ball is still rehabbing his knee and the question now is what the team looks like if he does indeed come back to it next season.
"There are no guarantees that Lonzo Ball plays at all this season. He's rehabbing that knee now and he's still feeling some pain in it."
— Daniel Greenberg (@ChiSportUpdates) December 15, 2022
- @wojespn on ESPN
November 30 update: We still have no timetable on Ball’s return and K.C. Johnson is reporting Billy Donovan said pregame Thursday Ball still cannot run or cut on the court. Until that starts to happen, the Bulls won’t be able to gauge his progress. It certainly feels like Ball won’t be playing at any point in this season but the point guard has said he’s trying to get back.
.@KCJHoop details the relatively pessimistic update on Lonzo Ball that Billy Donovan gave today pic.twitter.com/adhjfCFo21
— Bulls Talk (@NBCSBulls) December 1, 2022
November 18 update: Well, it looks like somebody in the Chicago media asked about Ball’s status. He remains without a timetable for return according to the team and frankly, it doesn’t seem like he’s going to play before the All-Star break at a minimum.
November 4 update: There’s still no timetable for Ball’s return but the point guard has started running in water according to head coach Billy Donovan. Donovan added he’s optimistic about Ball coming back to the team, so there seems to be some signs he could come back this season
Billy Donovan said everything is “very, very optimistic” right now regarding Lonzo Ball. Has started running in water. No timeline for return.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) November 4, 2022
September 29 update: According to Shams Charania, there’s confidence in Chicago’s front office Ball can return at some point this season. He’s expected to miss a few months recovering from his knee injury but the Bulls will not rule him out for the full season as Donovan had suggested earlier in the week.
Sources: There is confidence in Bulls guard Lonzo Ball's ability to return this season following left knee surgery on Wednesday that doctors believe addressed the issue. Ball is expected to miss at least a few months.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 29, 2022
The Bulls officially said Ball is doubtful to begin the regular season, as he had another surgery on his knee. The recovery process has been bumpy for Ball, who had a strong impact on both ends of the floor when he was playing. The Bulls believe when fully healthy they can compete with the top of the East, and that includes Ball. He is going to re-evaluated in 4-6 weeks, which means he’s likely to miss at least the first two months of the regular season in any case. However, head coach Billy Donovan is not ruling out the possibility of Ball missing the entire 2022-23 season so Chicago could be without the point guard entirely.
Ball said he has had trouble running, jumping and even walking up stairs on the knee prior to getting the surgery. The Bulls have to hope the surgery takes care of whatever issue Ball is having but this has been a tough situation to navigate for all parties involved.