Questions regarding the condition of point guard Lonzo Ball and his knee ailment have persisted throughout the offseason. Ball gave reporters information on Tuesday that Bulls supporters undoubtedly did not want to hear.
In an effort to be as honest as he could, Ball informed reporters that even climbing stairs hurts and that he had trouble running and jumping. Ball’s place in recent Bulls history is now certain given the current course of events.
It won’t be difficult to believe, but the Bulls have gone more than a decade without having a starting point guard participate in at least 85% of games during the regular season. Rajon Rondo played the most games, 69 out of 82, during the 2016–2017 season.
To make matters worse, the Bulls’ starting point guard has only started a maximum of 56 percent of regular season games in six of the previous 11 seasons. View it for yourself.
At this point, Bulls supporters are accustomed to it. The Bulls have a history of point guard injuries going all the way back to when Derrick Rose suffered his first setback.
Of all the anguish experienced by this group, witnessing Rose’s failure in Chicago was undoubtedly the greatest. That was as agonizing and heartbreaking as any previous sports injury scenario.
But getting back to Ball, if he doesn’t play at all this year, his circumstance would be quite similar to that of Rose, who ended up missing the entire season after suffering a knee injury.
Nobody wants to consider this possibility, but what if Ball decides not to play this season? Even worse, what if his career is now in jeopardy?
Fortunately, the Bulls did sign seasoned player Goran Dragic and selected Arizona point guard Dalen Terry in the first round of this year’s draft. In a sense, they had to have imagined a scenario in which Ball did not return for this season, thus Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley helped the club get ready for it.
