Lakers News: Former LA Lottery Pick Set to Miss Entirety Of 2023-2024 Season

More bad news rolls in for the former number 2 pick!

It's been a rough couple of years for the Chicago Bulls' 25-year-old point guard Lonzo Ball. He hasn't been healthy and on the basketball court since the first quarter of the 2021-2022 season and it's safe to say that his squad has not been the same ever since his injury history in the Windy City started. 

It all dates back to January of 2022 where Ball suffered a torn meniscus in a regular season match against the Golden State Warriors. It was initially thought that he would only miss about eight weeks after undergoing surgery but the recovery did not go as smooth as possible and he ended up missing the entire year. Chicago would slip from the top of the Eastern Conference standings to the sixth seed and lost in the first round of the playoffs.

Ball was in the middle of one of his most productive seasons of his short career and we all saw his potential when he got drafted number two by the Los Angeles Lakers and then continued playing alongside Brandon Ingram on the New Orleans Pelicans. However, he only got to suit up in 35 games for the Bulls after signing an $80 million contract with the franchise and after going through a number of surgeries, including a rare cartilage transplant that no NBA player has ever successfully come back from, it was reported that Chicago feared he may never play basketball again.

That is yet to be confirmed but we do have a huge update on the former UCLA guard and the Bulls' organization does not expect him to play at all in the 2023-2024 season.

Bulls announce Lonzo Ball is not expected to return from injury next season pic.twitter.com/RCuyELTasc

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 23, 2023

In his lone health half-season in the Windy City, Ball was able to average 13 points and five assists while shooting 42% from deep. Any basketball fan could see that he had found the perfect home and he was able to turn the Bulls into one of the fastest teams in the league and with DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine and Alex Caruso filling the lanes on fast breaks, it was a match made in heaven.

Even though Ball is no longer a member of the Purple and Gold, I definitely want to see him on the court again whenever he is fully recovered and I hope that the Bulls believe in his recovery. He was undoubtedly one of the most-hyped prospects ever coming out of college and even though he probably won't reach the heights of Magic Johnson and Stephen Curry, any team would lobe to have a healthy Lonzo on their side.

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