Chicago Bulls Star Zach LaVine Makes Strong Lonzo Ball Statement

Zahc LaVine spoke strongly of his Chicago Bulls teammate.

Sep 30, 2024; Chicago, Il, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine (8) and guard Lonzo Ball (2) pose during Chicago Bulls Media Day. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images / Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Lonzo Ball has earned a lot of money in his career, as according to Spotrac.com, he's amassed $112 million in career earnings. However, a lot of those earnings have come from Ball being sidelined on the bench, as injuries caused him to miss the 2022 and 2023 NBA seasons.

While Ball has been able to make it back on the court for the Chicago Bulls playing in their most recent game against the Indiana Pacers, it seems as if fans have forgotten just how special of a player Ball is when he's healthy. Even on a team with solid depth at the guard positions, one of Ball's teammates spoke out about what he means to the Bulls.

In a recent piece by ESPN, Zach LaVine shared his thoughts on Ball's impact on the court relating back to the 2021-22 season when Ball went down with an injury against the Golden State Warriors.

“I don’t think you [had] a full grasp of how smart he was and how much he meant to our team until he went down,” LaVine told ESPN. “He was pretty much the glue. He made everything run offensively. Him and Alex defensively were taking a challenge on guys and making it easy for me and DeMar to go out there and do our jobs. He was getting us six to eight points without even really thinking.”

In Feb. 2023, Lonzo Ball couldn’t play with his daughter with excruciating knee pain. His only chance to lead a normal life, let alone play basketball was a surgery no NBA player had ever attempted. @jamalcollier and I on his improbable 1,009 day comeback. https://t.co/BoDKEJFc89

— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) December 5, 2024

Ever since entering the league, Ball has never been the type of player to put up flashy stat lines, in contrast to his brother LaMelo, who is one of the top scorers in the NBA this season. Lonzo always made his mark by doing the dirty work defensively and being a connective piece on the offensive end.

Despite the emergence of guards Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu, a healthy Ball will be a hard player for Billy Donovan to keep off the court if he can return to the level of impact he brought pre-injury.

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