This doesn’t sound great for Lonzo Ball.
Lonzo Ball’s basketball career is at risk just six seasons after being drafted second overall in the 2017.
On the Organizations Win Championships podcast, co-host Dan Bernstein mentioned rumors that the Bulls have doubts about Ball’s future. Despite expressing guarded optimism publicly about his future with the team, the Bulls have yet to ask for the salary exemption, indicating that they may be done with him.
Ball missed the entire 2022-23 season due to a knee injury. He had a third knee operation in March, which Bernstein believed was experimental and not typical. This raised concerns about his recovery.
Although Chicago acquired Ball in 2021-22, he only played 35 games before suffering a season-ending knee injury in January 2022.
“The other thing I heard is even though publicly there has been an expression of guarded optimism regarding a future for Lonzo Ball,” Bernstein said. “And there’s a reason why for your pursuant to all kinds of union issues, why they haven’t asked for the salary exemption yet because they don’t want to send the message publicly that they’re done with him. They don’t think it’s likely that he ever plays again.”
“That was our speculation when we heard about experimental cartilage replacement surgery,” Bernstein said. “It is incredibly rare and is much more likely being done just for his quality of life off of the basketball court.”
While both the team and Ball have expressed hope for his return, this report casts doubt on whether it will happen. Ball is currently under contract through 2023-24, with an option to play in 24-25.
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