The injury bug really bit the Chicago Bulls hard of late. Just as it seemed like the Bulls were starting to get healthier, the Bulls got bad news regarding the true nature of the injury to point guard Lonzo Ball.
While it previously appeared that Lonzo was just dealing with some knee soreness that could cause him to miss a couple of weeks, it now looks like he was actually playing through a pretty significant knee issue. According to a report on Twitter from Shams Charania of The Athletic/Stadium on the morning of Jan. 20, Lonzo was “diagnosed with a small meniscus tear in his left knee”.
And Shams mentioned in that tweet that Lonzo was “evaluating treatment options” for the meniscus tear.
Shams originally noted this morning that “there is hope Ball can monitor knee and play through, but if he can’t, he may require a minor procedure”. The latter of those two options now looks to be the case for Lonzo.
Chicago Bulls will reportedly be without Lonzo Ball due to a meniscus tear for at least a month
Sources say there is hope Ball can monitor knee and play through it, but if he can't, he may require a minor procedure which would sideline him for several weeks. https://t.co/8Hetg2ZYQr
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 20, 2022
ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported on his Twitter timeline later in the morning of Jan. 20 that Lonzo is now expected to get knee surgery. The nature of the surgery would be an arthroscopic procedure that he is likely to get done in the next day or two.
The Chicago Bulls and guard Lonzo Ball are expected to make a decision on undergoing arthroscopic surgery for a meniscus injury in his left knee in the next 24-to-48 hours, a procedure that would sideline him for 4-to-6 weeks, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 20, 2022
Woj also reported that Lonzo would be out for around four or six weeks after getting the procedure done for the meniscus tear in his knee.
This obviously isn’t great news for the Bulls as star shooting guard Zach LaVine, forward Derrick Jones Jr., and shooting guard/forward Javonte Green, among others, are still out for the Bulls during a difficult portion of the January slate.
If there is any good news here, it’s the fact that the Bulls are seeing the likes of third-year point guard Coby White and rookie point guard Ayo Dosunmu really step up in bigger roles of late.
The Bulls also got defensive standout point guard Alex Caruso back from the league’s health and safety protocol in a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Jan. 19. That will help the Bulls bear the burden of the loss of Lonzo for likely at least a month a little bit easier.
All in all, it appears to be that Lonzo was playing through a meniscus tear for a bit of the time he came out of the health and safety protocol earlier this month. He showed a lot of toughness in that process.
But it’s good that Lonzo is now getting this procedure to hopefully get back and healthy for the final stretch run for the Bulls this season. Lonzo is clearly an important piece for this team and his return will be welcome once he’s ready to come back to the rotation.