Lonzo Ball will not suit up for the Chicago Bulls during the 2023-24 season.
The Bulls guard confirmed during an appearance on the “From the Point by Trae Young” podcast that he would miss all of this upcoming season after he had a cartilage transplant in his left knee in March.
Ball did sound optimistic, however, about getting back on the court and his NBA future.
The procedure on his knee was the third he has had since he signed a four-year, $80 million contract with Chicago in 2021.
“Just taking it day by day, bro. I just had a really big surgery — hopefully, the last one I ever have to get. It’s a long process. I’m already out this whole next season,” Ball said on the podcast. “When I first got hurt, we didn’t really know what it was. I was seeing all type of different doctors and stuff.
“I was just kind of going up and down. That was really hard for me because I just didn’t know what the next day was going to be like.
“At least now, I got the surgery. We got a plan moving forward. We’ve been on plan. I’m on track. Hopefully, everything works out. I just leave it up to God and do the best I can and live with the results.”
It’s more than a year since Ball last played in an NBA game — Jan. 14, 2022 — and since signing his deal in 2021, he played in only 35 games before the injury.
Chicago had already been anticipating that Ball would not be able to play this season, which Bulls vice president Arturas Karnisovas mentioned during the NBA draft in June.
The injury to Ball seemingly changed the course of the Bulls’ season in 2021-22 after they got off to a strong start that year.
They were 27-13 when Ball went down, but things faltered from there.
The Bulls guard said that he felt bad for the general manager since the organization put together a team that appeared tailored toward him.
“I felt like that was the most I’ve ever been involved in an organization,” Ball said. “And I finally got the perfect team that I felt like could fit my game and play my way and really just do what I wanted to do.
“That injury — I’m still going through it right now, but that one messed me up early because I felt like we had a chance and never got to see what it was.”
