Chicago Bulls’ Point Guard Lonzo Ball’s Return To The Court Murky

By Jordan Long

The Chicago Bulls’ regular season begins on October 19th when they travel to take on the Miami Heat.  The Bulls are looking to earn a playoff spot for the 2nd straight year.  They might start the season without one of their best players, Lonzo Ball.

                Ball appeared in a career low 35 games for the Bulls last season.  Despite the low number of games, Ball scored 13 points, grabbed 5.4 rebounds, and dished out 5.1 assists per game.  Ball’s last game  action was on January 14th, playing in 24 minutes against Golden State.  The Bulls lost to the Golden State Warriors 138-96.  He put in 15 points.  At the time, the Bulls had a record of 27-13.

                Due to persistent pain, the Bulls were forced to shut him down and he underwent meniscus surgery in his knee.  The surgery seemed to be  a success. The Bulls anticipated he would be back for the stretch run for the playoffs.  Unfortunately for Ball, he experienced pain when trying to get back on the court, ending his season.  Chicago went 19-27 without him, showing how valuable he was to this team.  The Bulls managed to earn a playoff spot as the #6 seed in the East but were beaten in the first- round by the Boston Celtics in 5 games.

                Ball used the offseason to rehab the knee in L.A. but he was still feeling pain in the knee.  The Bulls hope to have him back at some point.  In July, Chicago Bulls Vice President Arturas Karnisovas said, “He’s getting better, probably not at the speed that we would like. But he’s getting better.”

                The Bulls may not have him to start the year.  Ball heads to Chicago next week and they can take a further look at him.

                Ball showed how important he is to the Bulls team.  He is their starting point guard who sets up the play.  Ball can find his teammates to score.  When Ball is healthy, he takes the pressure off of Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan as the main scorers on this team.  Chicago would like to see him on the court again even if it isn’t the start of the year. They have to be careful with Ball and this injury. They can’t afford for him to go down again.