Chicago Bulls point guard Lonzo Ball maintains he will be playing at 100 percent again.
Ball is unfortunately set to miss the entire 2023/24 NBA season due to a lingering left knee injury. That led ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith to recently claim from his sources that the 25-year-old's injury was so severe that he was having trouble sitting down and getting up.
Of course, Ball released a video response where he questioned Smith's sources while proceeding to sit down and back up. Smith certainly didn't appreciate that response — especially as he was made to look bad — and proceeded to clap back at Ball.
“You really going to sit poolside on the bench and think because you getting up and sitting down… that makes you healthy?” Smith said. “Does that have anything to do with running up and down the damn court for 30, 35 minutes a night? Come on bro.”
Amid the back-and-forth, however, Ball reiterated that he'd be back on the court during a panel discussion on Saturday. He also touched on the Stephen. A fiasco in the process.
“I’m going to play again,” Ball said (via The Athletic). “The outside noise doesn’t bother me. The Stephen A. thing, you know, he has a wide platform. And to me, I just don’t appreciate when people put out fake news like that, especially someone of his stature that can touch a lot of people. It’s just putting out the wrong thing. That’s beside the point.
“For me, I know what I’ve got to do to get back. And I’m just on the path of doing what I’ve got to do every day. Taking it step by step. I don’t look too far ahead. I know in my near future that I will be back on the court, for sure.”
Ball played just 35 regular season games last season, but averaged 13 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists.
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