Bulls' Billy Donovan Discusses Lonzo Ball Before 76ers Matchup

Lonzo Ball hasn’t played for the Chicago Bulls since January 14, 2022. Suffering a knee injury in the 42-point loss against the Golden State Warriors 14 days into the new year last season, Ball’s dealt with tons of obstacles and setbacks since going down with his injury.

The absence of the standout guard has been significant for Chicago, who got off to a slow start this season. While the Bulls are beginning to turn things around by winning seven of their last ten games and putting together an impressive three-game win streak at the moment, they are still waiting patiently for Ball to return to the lineup, as he would bring impressive playmaking and reliable shooting.

As the Bulls paid a visit to their Eastern Conference foes, the Philadelphia 76ers, on Friday night, Chicago head coach Billy Donovan offered the latest on Ball. While there was a mention of improvement, it’s clear the young veteran still has a long way to go before he returns to action.

“He’s gotten better,” Donovan admitted. “It’s been slow. He is on the court shooting, but until we can get him to a place where he can start to sprint and run and do those things to get his conditioning back, that’s where it’s at. He has shown improvements. That’s definitely happened. The frustrating part for him and for everybody has been the pace of the improvement. He definitely has gotten better. He’s a lot better today than he was two weeks ago. He’s doing more today than he was two weeks ago.”

With Ball making strides in his improvement, are the Bulls beginning to put together a timetable for his return? Not exactly. At the moment, Ball hasn’t reached a point where he’s cleared to begin a ramp-up phase. And even when he does, it seems Donovan anticipates a continued slow process when Ball clears his next hurdle in his recovery.

“What does that equal in terms of when he’s actually in between the lines of competing and playing? There’s no timetable on that right now,” he continued. “It’s hard, you know? I think we’re right up against a year right now that he’s been out. I think that even once he gets cleared to ramp up at some point, whenever that is, I think the medical guys will take a real hard look at the fact that here’s a guy that’s been off for a year against that kind of contact and competition that there’d be a pretty significant period of time that he’s going to need to get himself back where, you know, he’s used to playing again.”

After signing with the Bulls during the 2021 offseason, Ball appeared in 35 games with Chicago. He averaged 13 points, five assists, and two steals while draining 42 percent of his seven three-point attempts per game. With Ball in the lineup last year, the Bulls achieved a record of 22-10. They finished the season out 46-36, snagging the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Despite getting off to a slow start this year, the Bulls are establishing a rhythm and hoping to put the East on notice with three-straight wins, with two of them coming against the Brooklyn Nets and the Sixers. Unfortunately for Chicago, they’ll have to continue competing without Ball, as he still seems ways away from fully recovering and returning to action.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.