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Chicago Bulls star point guard Lonzo Ball is done for the rest of Monday night's road game against the Philadelphia 76ers after suffering an upper-body injury.
“Injury Update: Lonzo Ball (head laceration) will not return,” the Bulls announced via a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Before he got ruled out for the rest of the night, the former UCLA Bruins star, who was part of the Bulls' starting lineup versus the 76ers, had recorded six points, two rebounds and an assist while shooting 2-for-2 from, the field in eight minutes of action.
The former second-overall NBA draft pick in 2017 by the Los Angeles Lakers has seen his career in the pros slowed down by injuries. He missed the entire 2022-23 and 2023-24 campaigns because of serious knee issues before finally playing again in the NBA in October 2024. The 27-year-old Ball entered the 76ers game averaging 7.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists per contest while shooting just 34.9 percent from the floor and 33.1 percent from behind the arc.
The Bulls were also comfortably ahead of the 76ers at the time of Ball's exit. Chicago started the second half of the contest with a nine-point lead and was having tremendous success in the period on both ends of the floor in the third quarter. In other words, there was no pressing need for the Bulls to force Ball back out into the floor.
Should Ball need to miss at least a game to deal with the injury, the likes of Josh Giddey, Tre Jones and Coby White could expect increased responsibilities in Chicago's backcourt. Ball's injury is also the latest to hit the banged-up Bulls, who are currently without star big man Nikola Vucevic, power forward Jalen Smith, shooting guard Ayo Dosunmo and forward Patrick Williams.
Ball signed a two-year extension deal worth $20 million with the Bulls earlier this February, a contract that comes with a $10 million club option for the 2026-27 season.
The Bulls, who are still in contention for at least a spot in the Play-in Tournament despite a six-game losing streak prior to the meeting with Paul George and the struggling 76ers, will next take on the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday at home before hosting the Toronto Raptors on Friday.
