Getty Image / Michael Reaves
Despite all of the scrutiny he received early in his career, mostly because of the actions of his dad, Lonzo Ball turned himself into a pretty valuable basketball player. But, terrible complications from a cartilage replacement have kept him out of basketball for two whole seasons.
Thankfully, his return to the court seems imminent, and that should be a huge boost to the Chicago Bulls next season.
On a recent episode of his podcast alongside his brother, LiAngelo, Lonzo was asked if he would return to play at the start of next season.
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“Yes. I firmly I believe that. That’s the plan that I’m on and I haven’t had any setbacks so, I expect to play the first game,” Lonzo Ball said.
There are a lot of Lonzo Ball haters out there, but that’s really because of his dad, Lavar, who has made so many wild statements about himself and his three sons over the years.
But, the reality is that Lonzo worked really hard to make himself a very valuable NBA player. Everyone made fun of his ugly jump shot coming out of UCLA. But, the last time we saw Lonzo, he was one of the league’s best shooters. In 2021-2022, he shot a fantastic 42% from three. In fact, he was the only player in the league that year that shot above 40% from three-point range while also averaging 5 rebounds and 5 assists.
Plus, he was widely considered a plus defender prior to the injuries. His combination of length for a guard plus a pretty high defensive effort level. if you can shoot, pass, and defend, you’re going to be highly valued.
Lonzo Ball opted in to his $20 million player option for next season, which will be the last season of his deal. Hopefully, he can stay healthy and return to the form he had prior to the knee problems. He will play all of next season at 27, so he could have a lot of good years left ahead of him.