His return to the basketball court was long considered uncertain. In the preseason game against the Timberwolves, Lonzo Ball actually celebrates his comeback and is enthusiastically cheered by the Chicago Bulls fans.
The NBA season provided the first big emotional moment before it even really started. In the Chicago Bulls’ preseason game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Lonzo Ball made his comeback – after an incredible two and three quarters of years or more than 1000 days!
He and the more than 17,000 spectators who enthusiastically celebrated him with a standing ovation in the United Center were correspondingly moved.
“I can’t put into words how it felt to be out there. It was definitely a moment that I will never forget,” said the former talent, who is now 26 years old.
The point guard contributed 10 points in 15 minutes to the 125:123 victory, hitting four of his six shot attempts, including his first three-pointer from the corner!
A rebound, an assist, a steal and a block rounded out a successful comeback, about which his coach Billy Donovan said: “I thought he looked great. There are a lot of things he does in the game without his knee or his “To use his body at all. He uses his brain so much. He moved very, very well.”
On January 14, 2022, when he was last on the floor, the world looked different. He himself has also changed since then. Three arthroscopic procedures on his left knee, including a double cartilage transplant a year and a half ago, raised doubts about whether he would ever return to the field.
In this context, Ball admitted that he is no longer the player who last played an NBA game 33 months ago. “It’s not the same body I started with,” he explained after a training session on Wednesday.
Ball: “It happened much faster than expected”
But he also said: “When I look back, it happened much faster than I thought.” They are words that only someone who has had to go through such a long period of suffering can understand. “But now,” he says, “I’m here. That’s all behind me now.”
The hope that it stays that way is realistic. The knee, it held. And not only that. “I didn’t feel it at all. I felt like I could move well,” he explained: “Now it’s just a matter of developing and continuing like that every night.”
The next opportunity to do so will be on Saturday night when the Bulls play their final preseason game against the Cleveland Cavaliers in front of their home crowd.
He has already received the go from his trainer.
