Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, has a torn meniscus in his left knee and is in the process of deciding whether or not to have arthroscopic surgery. Per the report, Ball will make a decision sometime this week.
If Ball elects to have surgery, Wojnarowski reports that he will miss approximately 4-6 weeks in an effort to fix what is described as a “slight” tear. Ball’s injury was initially thought to be a bone bruise and he had missed Chicago’s previous three games with the injury. As a member of the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018, Ball had surgery to repair the same meniscus. Prior to the Bulls’ win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night, Bulls coach Billy Donovan said the team hadn’t “gotten to that point” with regards to considering surgery to repair the ailment.
If Ball does have surgery, a 4-6 recovery period will keep him out until after the All-Star Break. Assuming there are no hiccups in his recovery, that’s plenty of time before the playoffs begin and, in theory, enough time to for him to get reintegrated back into the team.
For Chicago, this continues a rough run of injuries. Alex Caruso just returned from being in the league health & safety protocols and dealing with other injuries, while Zach LaVine is currently dealing with his own knee injury.