The Chicago Bulls lost more than a game in a 35-point blowout to the Minnesota Timberwolves on December 29. Chicago also lost its starting backcourt, with Coby White suffering an apparent calf strain and Josh Giddey exiting with a pulled hamstring.
White exited after just seven minutes, coming up hobbled before heading to the locker room and being ruled out at halftime with calf tightness. It was the same right calf that sidelined him earlier this season for 11 games.
On a positive note, White was not diagnosed with a calf strain and is currently listed with calf tightness ahead of the Bulls’ New Year’s Eve matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans. The 25-year-old guard will miss Chicago's final contest of the calendar year, but calf tightness won't keep him out of the lineup for too long.
Josh Giddey suffers hamstring strain
Giddey, on the other hand, wasn’t as fortunate. Although his injury was initially deemed hamstring tightness, ESPN’s Shams Charania later reported that the 23-year-old floor general suffered a left hamstring strain and will miss “at least a few weeks” of action.
Hamstring strains are notoriously finicky, with wide-ranging recovery timelines. For example, Nets guard Cam Thomas suffered a hamstring strain on November 5, with Shams Charania initially reporting he would miss three to four weeks. Thomas didn’t return until Brooklyn’s December 27 matchup against the Timberwolves, missing 20 games over a 52-day span—just over seven weeks.
If Giddey were to miss a similar amount of time, he would be sidelined for approximately 24 games. A more optimistic comparison, however, is Pelicans star Zion Williamson. Williamson was diagnosed with a Grade 1 hamstring strain on November 4 and returned just 15 days later, missing only eight games.
Recovery from hamstring strains can be unpredictable
It ultimately depends on the grade of strain Giddey is diagnosed with. A Grade 1 strain is a minor pull and typically carries a recovery timeline of a few weeks. A Grade 2 strain is a partial tear and generally forces an athlete to miss four to eight weeks of action. Lastly, a Grade 3 strain is a complete rupture that can take months to recover from.
Given that Giddey was able to walk off the court and did not appear to be noticeably limping, it’s more likely he suffered either a Grade 1 or Grade 2 strain, aligning with Shams Charania’s “few weeks” timeline.
The injury is a major blow for both the Bulls and Giddey, who was in the midst of a career year and even ranked 14th in the first returns of 2025–26 All-Star voting. Chicago will now be without its starting backcourt in the immediate future and without Giddey for the foreseeable future.
In Giddey's absence, expect head coach Billy Donovan to lean on Ayo Dosunmu, Kevin Huerter, and Tre Jones. Dosunmu, Huerter, and Jones have made seven, eight, and 11 starts, respectively