Lonzo Ball, who has been out for over a year, will have his third knee surgery in 14 months, putting his NBA future in jeopardy.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Thursday confirmed the new procedure. As a result, the Chicago Bulls point guard could miss the entire 2023/24 season, as well as the current one.
Lonzo appeared in court for the last time on January 14, 2022. It was announced less than a month ago that he would not return for the current season due to a knee injury.
The new procedure is therefore anticipated to help Lonzo recover and resume playing. Bulls added that he will be out indefinitely following the cartilage transplant.
“The process has been quite frustrating. However, I am confident that the next steps will give the best results for the future.” Lonzo said in an official statement.
Lonzo and his team, along with Klutch Sports, the NBA athlete’s partner brand, were consulting specialists to decide whether a new surgery would be the best option.
The 25-year-old point guard has seen significant progression in recent months. However, he still felt pain when running and jumping.
On the other hand, former teammate Tristan Thompson spoke of Ball’s injury as something new.
“He has an injury that has never been seen before,” Thompson said in an interview last month.
Lonzo is currently in the second year of his four-year, $80 million contract. The former UCLA was important on both sides of the court in its first season in Chicago.
In 2021/22, he played in 35 games and averaged 13 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.8 steals.
However, the Chicago team had the start of the season in years, with 27 wins and 13 losses.
Therefore, the Bulls have been suffering from the lack of a point guard. As an attempted replacement, Ayo Dosunmu took over most of the games.
Then, Lonzo averaged nine points and 2.7 assists in his second year in the league and also, to help, Patrick Beverley signed with the team last month.
At the moment, the Chicago franchise is 31 wins and 37 losses. However, they are chasing a play-in spot.
