Lonzo Ball has been dealing with chronic health issues over the past two years. The 26-year-old last played in the NBA in January 2022 but is looking forward to returning to the league in the upcoming season. Although he will take his time to get up to speed, Ball is aiming to hit the levels he did before the COVID-19 pandemic.
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During an interview on The WAE Show, the Bulls star reminisced about his form before the league had to be shut down due to the global health crisis. Ball claimed that during that stretch, he was the best point guard in the league. However, the pandemic disrupted his rhythm and he hasn’t been able to rekindle it. He said,
“Like every time I catch my stride, something goes wrong, I ain’t gon’ cap. Either I get hurt or that one year I was in New Orleans, it was COVID that came out of nowhere. You look back at that month before COVID, if you was to ask me, I think I’m the best point guard in the league.”
Lonzo Ball says he felt like he was the best point guard in the league during the month before COVID shut down the season
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pic.twitter.com/ALXQxN4HXF— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) August 20, 2024
Ball, the second overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, spent two seasons with the Lakers before being traded to the Pelicans in the 2019 offseason. He had an excellent start to life in New Orleans.
In his first 56 games for the franchise, he averaged 12.4 points, seven assists, 6.2 rebounds and 1.4 steals. He also shot 38.3% from beyond the arc. In the last five games of that stretch, he averaged, 20.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, and assists and shot 54.3% from the field.
Just when he was putting up All-Star-level numbers, the league was suspended indefinitely due to COVID-19. When it resumed in the NBA Bubble, Ball struggled. In seven games, he averaged only 7.1 points, 6.6 assists and five rebounds. New Orleans lost six of its eight games in Orlando and missed the playoffs.
Ball performed well in the 2020-21 season and earned a move to the Bulls. He was enjoying his time in Chicago before tragedy struck.
Injuries have derailed Lonzo Ball’s career
After adding the former Lakers and Pelicans guard to their ranks in the 2021 offseason, the Bulls went from 11th in the East to title contenders. Forty games into the season, they are 27-13 and sitting atop the Conference standings.
On January 14th, they were scheduled to host defending champions Golden State Warriors in a marquee matchup that many touted was a true test of Chicago’s legitimacy as challengers. However, an injury to Zach LaVine in the first quarter derailed any hope of winning the game.
With five minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Bulls called a timeout and pulled Ball out of the game. The presumption was that Chicago were calling it a day and emptying the bench. However, it was later revealed that the team subbed the guard out due to an injury. Later, it was revealed that he had suffered a season-ending meniscus tear.
It was assumed at the time that Ball would be back before the end of the year. However, over two and a half years later, there’s still no telling when the guard will return. Explaining what transpired in an interview with TMZ, he said,
“Ultimately, it started with a meniscus tear. Basically, started on the Lakers when I tore it the first time. Tore it a couple more times to a point to where there was no more meniscus left and bone on bone was rubbing. Cartilage was gone and the bone was messed up, so I had to get new meniscus from a donor, I had to get a bone allograft, and I had to get some new cartilage put in as well.”
The Bulls star claimed he’s eyeing a return in the upcoming campaign. Fans are eager to see him back on the court. However, it’s unclear how he’d play after his two-and-a-half-year absence from action.
