Lonzo Ball Reportedly On Track To Miss 2023-24 NBA Season After Third Knee Surgery

The Chicago Bulls' hopes of having Lonzo Ball running the point for next season were dealt a big blow when news broke that he is on pace to miss the entire season as he gets another surgery on his left knee.

Shams Charania of The Athletic first revealed the development and reportedly both the Bulls and the beleaguered point guard are optimistic it gets his career right back on track.

Ball has not seen the floor since January 2022 when he logged 15 points and three assists in 23 minutes of game time in a 42-point loss to the Golden State Warriors.

Six days later and having missed the Bulls' next three games, it was determined that he had a torn meniscus in his left knee–kickstarting the entire saga.

He was initially ruled to miss about six to eight weeks but was eventually ruled out of a return on April 6 as he was experiencing discomfort during his rehab.

As Bulls fans became more optimistic about his return to the court for the 2022-23 season, September 28 marked Ball's second surgery as he underwent an arthroscopic debridement to treat a debris that was reportedly "caught up" in a nerve in his knee.

The Bulls announced that he would be reevaluated in four-to-six weeks and while Chicago was keeping fans posted on his progress, news started coming out that it was growing likely that he would be shut down for the season.

After determining that Ball was not ready to take the court at all around the All-Star Game in late February, Bulls executive vice president for basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas confirmed that Ball's performance has been hampered by "discomfort during participation in high-level basketball-related activities".

Another shutdown for Ball came and it had fans across the league wondering whether he would be ever able to play again because of his injuries.

It has been a dreadful run of luck for Chicago fans after they formed a deadly core of Ball, DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic and Zach LaVine, but that optimism has now been replaced by wonder as to what their franchise's future holds for them.

As noted by the joint report from Charania and Darnell Mayberry, the Bulls' front office is likely to petition NBA higher-ups for the full hardship provision to give them salary relief pertaining to injury-related absences.

In Ball's case, he has two years, $42 million left on his four-year, $80 million deal, and while there remain questions of him being able to even play, the only thing basketball fans want now is to see him return to the court and have a great run of success from there on out.