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One of the harshest realities of playing a sport for a living is knowing that there’s only so much you can do to ward off the virtually unavoidable injuries that come with that line of work.
With that said, professional athletes can usually take some solace in knowing they’ll have access to plenty of resources they can harness to get to the root of the problem before embarking on their road to recovery.
However, there are certain cases where it’s not always that straightforward.
It’s been more than a year since Lonzo Ball played in an NBA game, as the Bulls guard was sidelined last season with a knee injury before opting to undergo surgery to treat what was initially diagnosed as a torn meniscus.
Ball was only expected to miss six to eight weeks of action after going under the knife, but the procedure (as well as a second operation that was performed in September) failed to treat the lingering ailment that continues to prevent him from suiting up.
Last week, Bulls coach Billy Donovan shared a fairly pessimistic update when he revealed Ball is “nowhere near returning” and hinted the team’s medical staff is fairly baffled by the setback that’s refused to respond to treatment.
Now, we’ve been treated to more concerning details courtesy of Joe Cowley, who shed some light on the situation during a radio appearance on Tuesday where he revealed Ball has consulted six different doctors who’ve been unable to reach a consensus when it comes to pinpointing the true cause of the knee issue.
https://twitter.com/ChiSportUpdates/status/1620506426111332352
It’s one thing to miss over a year of action while rehabbing an injury, but needing that much time to figure out what the injury is in the first place seems like it’s a major cause for concern.
Here’s to hoping the 25-year-old can get to the bottom of things sooner rather than later.