Chicago Bulls Lose Both Coby White & Josh Giddey to Injury vs. Timberwolves

In absolutely brutal news, the Chicago Bulls will have to finish Monday night's game without both of their starting guards.

Roughly midway through the first quarter, Coby White could be seen reaching for his lower right leg before head coach Billy Donovan called a timeout. The guard proceeded to walk straight off the court and into the tunnel with a trainer. While the Bulls initially announced that he was questionable to return, they promptly ruled him out for the remainder of the night at the beginning of the third quarter.

The Bulls listed the injury as a calf issue, which comes with increased concern considering White's start to the 2025-26 campaign. He missed the first month-plus of the season due to an injury to the same calf that he sustained in August. The guard also went on to injure his other calf after returning in mid-November, though that appeared far less severe.

The injury – or potentially re-injury – happens to come just two days after White played in his first back-to-back set of the year. The Bulls initially held him out of those contests over the first few weeks that he was back.

White has averaged 20.5 points, 4.9 assists, and 3.1 rebounds over his 15 appearances so far this season. Two of his top performances of the year came during the team's most recent five-game winning streak. He dropped 25 points on 8-13 shooting in the team's first win over Cleveland before scoring 24 points on 5-10 shooting from downtown in their second victory over Atlanta.

Coby White of the Chicago Bulls — Dec 29, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Coby White (0) walks into the United Center before the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | David Banks-Imagn Images

Minutes after officially ruling out White, Josh Giddey got bit by the injury bug. The guard was dribbling the ball up the floor before passing it off and reaching for his hamstring. He quickly called over the bench, leading Donovan to call another timeout. Similar to White, he headed straight to the tunnel and into the locker room.

While Giddey was struggling on 3-10 shooting against the Timberwolves, he still had 11 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists in his 18 minutes of action. Especially with White out for the game, the guard was surely going to carry an even larger scoring role to finish out the night.

Giddey has been the backbone of the Bulls' offense since the season tipped off. Putting together a career year, his unselfishness and uptempo play gave the Bulls an offensive identity that was proving increasingly difficult for teams to keep up with. During the team's most recent five-game winning streak, Giddey had four double-doubles and two triple-doubles. Only Nikola Jokic currently has more triple-doubles than the Bulls' guard right now.

While only time will tell the severity of both injuries, there is no question that the Bulls could be without their two starters for an extended period of time. White's recent history with the calf injury certainly leaves room for concern, while hamstrings are notorious for forcing multi-week absences.

Considering the Bulls' recent strong play, the timing feels dreadful. But it feels even worse when we consider all the recent trade buzz. White, in particular, is expected to be one of the hottest names on the trade market this season. The more injury concerns that arise, however, the less teams may be willing to take a swing at the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent. There were already concerns about relatively weak offers coming in because of White's contract situation. Add in recurring injury concerns, and the market could begin to dry up sooner than expected.

Nevertheless, what matters most is the health of both players. The Bulls are sure hoping for some good news as Monday night's game wraps up.