Lonzo Ball Injury: Analyzing Bulls Guard’s Confidence In His First Game Since January 2022

Lonzo Ball made his return to the NBA after a two-and-a-half-year break. The last time when he took the floor was in January 2022. The 26-year-old has had major injury troubles in his career so far. Ahead of the 2022-23 season, Ball underwent an arthroscopic debridement surgery to smoothen his knee joint by extracting any loose material from the inside.

In February 2023, the Chicago Bulls broke the news that their star player will be out for the remainder of the season. In March, he had a cartilage transplant in his left knee. Within the next few months, it was clear that Ball will miss the 2023-24 season. However, he showed good recovery in the following months which gave hope to the franchise.

He was expected to come back in January but things didn’t turn out as expected. Earlier this year in May, Ball revealed that he also had to undergo a meniscus transplant in his knee. It wasn’t until August 2024 that Ball started participating in scrimmages. After going through all that trouble, he made his debut yesterday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

When Ball came off the bench, he was welcomed by the United Center crowd with a loud cheer and a standing ovation. With the emotions flowing all over the place, Ball acknowledged the crowd’s reception and immediately went to work. He scored 10 points with a rebound and an assist in 15 minutes of playing time. Ball shot 4-6 from the field and helped his team secure a 125-123 win.

Lonzo Ball saves the ball

If someone saw Ball play yesterday without the knowledge of his string of injuries and long hiatus, it’d have been surprising to know that he hadn’t been on the court for over two years. Other than draining two threes, he looked in great rhythm while protecting the ball as well.

In the second quarter, when his team was already on a five-point lead, Zo dove for the ball to stop it from going out of bounds. With his back turned to his teammates on the floor, he threw the ball back in the nick of time. There are several dangers attached to such kinds of play which is why a lot of players avoid doing that.

However, by making that choice, Ball showed that he is more prepared for the season than people think. Considering it’s a preseason game that will not have any effect on the course of the regular season, Zo’s commitment to the game impressed everyone.

But he’ll be advised by his fans to ensure that he avoids unnecessarily attracting any other potential injuries. Because when he is on the floor, Zo knows how to create highlight-worthy moments.

Lonzo Ball blocks Julius Randle

Zo registered one block in his 15 minutes of playing time. That block happened about a minute before his fearless attempt to save the ball from going out of bounds. During a play in the second quarter, Julius Randle charged toward the bucket after dodging Zach LaVine’s defense. However, he wasn’t ready for Zo’s defense who was standing in the paint area.

The 26-year-old smacked the ball out of his hands before he could complete his sequence. Doing that to a player who is more experienced, has a significant size advantage, despite having a lack of game experience showcased the work that Zo has put in during the last few months. The timing of his jump was also praiseworthy because he was coming from behind and Randle is very quick in his movements.

Ball is considered to be one of the best perimeter defenders in the league. Unfortunately, fans didn’t get to watch him in action in the last few years. However, on his return to the league, the Bulls star gave his fans some great moments to cherish. Defense has been one of his strong suits from the very beginning of his career. In the 2021-22 season, Zo was seventh in the league in deflections with 3.2 per game.

He was also incredibly effective in loose ball recovery as he averaged 1.1 per game. His return to the court was imminent but the two-and-a-half-year break was tough to endure for his fans. Now that he’s back, in the same touch if not better, the Bulls franchise would hope that he remains stable throughout the season for them.