Watch: Lonzo Ball joins DeAndre Jordan & other NBA stars in 5 Vs 5 pickup game amid recovery concerns
Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball hopes to be finally back playing in the 2024-25 NBA season after battling a knee injury the past couple of years. He has been working on a possible return this offseason and is now able to take the floor and play 5-on-5.
He was spotted playing 5-on-5 again in an open run in Los Angeles with fellow NBA players DeAndre Jordan, JaVale McGee, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Daniel Gafford.
NBA Central shared a video of Lonzo Ball in action in the open run on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday as the Bulls guard was shooting jump shots and dishing out assists.
Watch the video below:
Lonzo Ball has missed the last two NBA seasons after a series of surgeries for the left knee injury he suffered in January 2021. He had arthroscopic surgery in January 2022 and then had an arthroscopic debridement in September of that year. Ball went under cartilage transplant surgery in March 2023.
The former second-overall pick back in 2017 by the LA Lakers out of UCLA is entering the final season of the four-year, $80-million contract he signed with the Bulls in 2021.
Lonzo Ball says recovery from knee injury finally going well
NBA fans have not seen Lonzo Ball in an official NBA game for the past two seasons. He hopes to change that come next season as he says his knee's recovery is finally going well.
In a chance conversation with TMZ Sports, Ball provided an update on his recovery.
"It's going well. [The goal is] To be back on the court. That's allI want to do," Ball said.
Since joining the Bulls, the 26-year-old guard has only played 35 games, all in the 2021-22 season, and averaged 13 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.8 steals in 35 minutes of play.
This season, Ball will find a new-look Bulls backcourt rotation, which now includes Josh Giddey from the OKC Thunder.
Chicago finished its previous campaign with a 39-43 record, qualifying for the play-in tournament before losing to Miami for the eighth and last playoff spot.