Bulls guard Lonzo Ball could be headed for another left knee surgery

While a source said Thursday that the organization wasn’t there just yet, a third surgery on Ball’s left knee was on the table, and it would sideline him for up to six months.

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Bulls point guard Lonzo Ball could be headed for a third surgery on his left knee.

Bulls point guard Lonzo Ball could be headed for a third surgery on his left knee.

Marta Lavandier/AP

DENVER — The surgery on Lonzo Ball’s left knee was never a threat to his career — at least that’s what he thought.

“Nah, I don’t have any concern,’’ Ball said in January when asked if he was worried about his time in the NBA being cut short. “I just think it’s time-consuming. I’m only 25, so I’m not too worried about it.’’ 

It might be time to start worrying.

A source confirmed a report Thursday that Ball could be headed for a third surgery on his left knee since he joined the Bulls’ organization — the fourth surgery on the knee in his career — but stressed that they “weren’t there just yet.’’

Ball has been in Los Angeles since the Bulls officially shut down his season last month, seeing specialists as they try to pinpoint exactly why the first two surgeries weren’t successful.

He had the left meniscus repaired in January 2022, and the hope was to have him back just before last season’s playoff run. That didn’t happen.

Ball spent the summer trying to ramp up his activity, and he was able to run and shoot for a bit but hit a roadblock because of discomfort.

That led to the surgery in September in which debris was removed.

The concern coming out of that surgery was nerve damage in the knee, but the hope was it would heal and he would get through it.

Again, that wasn’t the case.

The straight-ahead running eventually was fine, but when the rehab called for that to be ramped up, Ball again experienced pain in the knee and had to be pulled back. He never even reached the point where he was cutting laterally.

If Ball has to have a third surgery, it could be up to another six months before he would resume full basketball activity. The best-case scenario would be having him ready by October or November, but that would be possible only if everything went perfectly.

Even if Ball was to return at some point next season, he would likely be on a strict load-management program, making a full return difficult.

“I feel bad for [Ball] because nobody’s taking it harder,’’ guard Zach LaVine said recently. “This is his career. This is him that’s having to deal with this injury and having people put out reports and talk about him when he really hasn’t said a lot. That’s hard to deal with.’’

It could get even more difficult because of the financial aspect.

Ball still has two more years left on his deal and is set to make $20.4 million next season and $21.4 million in the final season. That final year of the deal, however, is a player option. So even if Ball eventually gets back at some point during the 2023-24 season and plays well, he could always opt out and leave the Bulls with a small sample size of what could have been.

Before Ball was injured, the Bulls were a 27-13 team sitting atop the Eastern Conference last season. He averaged 13 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists, shot 42.3% from three-point range, pushed the pace offensively and was an elite defender. The Bulls haven’t found anybody to fill his shoes.

“I always think about the person first more than [the player],’’ LaVine said. “He’s such a hard worker. I talk to him all the time. He’ll be back. It’s unfortunate he had to go through this. Injuries are obviously a part of basketball, but this just sucks because that’s my guy.’’

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