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Zach LaVine and Lonzo Ball to reunite in Los Angeles, but not in the way the Chicago Bulls had hoped
The future looked bright for the Chicago Bulls at the start of the 2021-2022 season. They had found the right point guard for their squad, Lonzo Ball, whose playmaking and defense spearheaded the Bulls to the top of the Eastern Conference. LaVine flanked him on the wings, forming an exciting duo for the Bulls.
However, all that changed in January 2022 when Ball injured his knee and has never been seen on an NBA floor since. This week, Ball and LaVine are reunited in Los Angeles, where they will do more rehab to recover from their injuries.
Not the reunion many had hoped
According to Bulls coach Billy Donovan, LaVine will rejoin the Los Angeles team to continue rehabbing his sprained ankle. Meanwhile, Ball has been in Los Angeles for a while, making it the base of his operations since undergoing a third surgery on his left knee in March of last year.
This makes for a bittersweet reunion for the two players whose injuries have kept them from creating magic on the court. Donovan reported that while LaVine is getting better by the day, he hasn’t heard anything from the team’s medical staff about him doing on-court drills.
“[LaVine’s] getting better .I’m not aware of him doing anything on the court yet, but the report is he’s feeling better,” Donovan said.
“I think there’s optimism that he’s responded pretty well in the past to some ankle sprains, but I think until he gets back on the court and starts moving, cutting, we’ll get a better feel when he starts to do those things.”
Ball has yet to do any sprinting
Regarding Ball, Donovan shared that the once-promising guard has yet to sprint but is doing more agility drills.
“He’s doing a lot of, like, agility work right now. He has not been cleared to fully sprint, but he is doing some more agility work. He hasn’t done any sprinting on the treadmill or straight ahead, but he is on the court [and] moving around,” Donovan said.
Ball’s future with the Bulls remains in doubt, as he will miss his second full season in a row, leading to rumors of him getting moved at the trade deadline as a cost-cutting measure.
