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The Chicago Bulls' Wednesday night contest against the Minnesota Timberwolves was not your typical preseason game. After all, this game saw the much-anticipated return of Lonzo Ball to action after missing the past 33 months while rehabbing from multiple operations on his knee. Ball not only played 15 minutes, which is already a major positive, but he also put up 10 points on an efficient 4-6 shooting night — showing that he still got plenty of game despite his lengthy layoff.
One of the most difficult parts of being an injured professional athlete is not being able to do what you love because of circumstances beyond your control. This was most certainly the case for Ball, who seemed to have found a home in the Windy City after helping lead the Bulls to their most successful season of the past five years before falling prey to the injury bug.
But now that he's back healthy, Ball can finally breathe a sigh of relief since he can finally witness his hard work pay off tangibly.
“It felt a lot better playing than watching,” Ball said, per K.C. Johnson of Chicago Sports Network.
The long wait must have been excruciating for Ball in addition to all the stress that comes with having to undergo three arthroscopic surgeries to alleviate the pain in his knee. Ball spent the past 1,006 days either working hard on returning to full health or eagerly waiting for the green light from the Bulls' medical staff, so being back on the court against the Timberwolves must have felt really good for the 26-year-old guard.
Of course, the Bulls will be handling his minutes with care moving forward. They will not want to overtax Ball to prevent him from re-aggravating his knee issues. But the fact that Ball is looking like a rotation player is something the entire NBA fanbase can celebrate.
Bulls re-integrate Lonzo Ball in a very different team
When the Bulls signed Lonzo Ball in 2021, they had every intention in the world to compete for a playoff spot — or perhaps something more. But Ball has been sidelined by injuries for so long that he's now going to return to a Bulls lineup that will be competing for lottery odds next year even though his old pals Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic are still on the team.
Ball may end up being a 10-15 minutes per game player to start off the season, with room for some more minutes if his health holds up and if he performs well — both major ifs at this point. The Bulls have Coby White, Zach LaVine, Josh Giddey, and Ayo Dosunmu as the main players to take guard minutes for the team, although Ball can easily fit alongside any of those players thanks to his shooting, defense, and playmaking.
It will be interesting to see how well Ball can perform after his two-plus years of absence. This could be a make-or-break year for him, as his contract with the Bulls is set to expire at the end of the season.
