After more than 1,000 days since he last stepped on an NBA court, after three knee surgeries and countless hours of rehab, Lonzo Ball is set to make his return.
Ball is scheduled to play for the Bulls in their final two exhibition games, starting Wednesday night against Minnesota, a story broken by Shams Charania of ESPN and confirmed by multiple other Bulls writers. It also aligns with what Ball recently said on a podcast, suggesting he would play in a couple of Bulls preseason games before the season.
Ball last played in a game on Jan 14, 2002, and since then has undergone three knee surgeries, the most recent of those in March 2023 was a cartilage replacement, where doctors grow cartilage outside the body and put it in the knee. The recovery has been good enough that Ball has been playing full contact 5-on-5 through the Bulls training camp.
Ball will make $21.4 million this season in the final year of his contract. Back in 2021-22, he was the glue that was going to bring together an otherwise ill-fitting Chicago roster. Ball can stay healthy, but his role on this team will be different and limited, with Josh Giddey and Coby White as the primary ball handlers and shot creators and Ball will be more in a supporting role.
Regardless of the role, seeing him back on the court would be one of the best stories of the NBA season, a triumph of perseverance.