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Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan has confirmed that Lonzo Ball is progressing in his left knee recovery. This week, Ball posted a video of him dunking. Ball, who underwent knee surgery last January, had to undergo another procedure on his knee just before the start of this season.
"Those are things that maybe six weeks ago he couldn't do. As much as they're little steps, it's still progress that he's continuing to make," Donovan said of Ball, per ESPN.
Ball is finally progressing in his knee recovery
After the first surgery, Ball didn't recover as targeted.
During one period, there were reports suggesting that even the doctors weren't sure why Ball's knee wasn't making progress. Now, Ball has returned to doing certain activities but there is still pain and discomfort in his knee.
"Is there pain there? Yes, there's still some discomfort there. But not at the level it was six weeks ago. I'm not trying to say what Lonzo's pain is. But the question is does he have pain? Yes. Is it the same pain he was dealing with six weeks ago? No.
How much better is it? It's good enough that he can get on a treadmill and do some running and he can go jump and go dunk the ball," Donovan added. Ball has now been out for 12 months and there is no clear timetable on his return.
But whenever he returns, the Bulls will be prepared to give Ball some time to find his game and rhythm. "When you're out a year, whenever he gets back to playing, I don't think missing that much time is going to expect him to pick up right where he left off.
There's going to be an adjustment period, there's no question. There's certainly going to be a period of time before they ever allow him back to play that they feel comfortable that he can endure what an NBA schedule looks like," Donovan explained.