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Welcome back, Lonzo Ball.
The Chicago Bulls guard returned to the court for the first time since January 2022 for Wednesday’s preseason game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The score rarely ever matters in the preseason, and it certainly wasn’t the focus in the United Center on Wednesday.
All the focus was on Ball, and Julia Poe of the Chicago Tribune noted the plan was to keep him to a 16-minute restriction.
That he was under a restriction was anything but surprising, as he underwent multiple knee surgeries since suffering the initial injury in January 2022, including a cartilage transplant.
He was expected to miss six-to-eight weeks and return in time for the playoffs when he first suffered the injury, but he didn’t make it back to the court that season and went through multiple setbacks before this moment when he was back on the floor.
And he picked up right where he left off by drilling his first two shots beyond the arc, facilitating and even blocking Julius Randle.
His return had fans celebrating him on social media:
Sam Vecenie @Sam_Vecenie
Just really happy for Lonzo Ball tonight. Anybody that watched that dude in high school and saw the innate feel for the game knew that he was born to hoop. Glad that his body is giving him the chance to do it again.pic.twitter.com/e1IjhfzoJH
Mike Berman @MikeBermanNBC
Lonzo knocking down his 1st shot — a 3 from the corner — felt good to watch. Can only imagine how good it felt for him! #Bulls
Fred Katz @FredKatz
Watching Lonzo Ball right now is pretty amazing. Just blocked Julius Randle in help, then a few possessions later scrambled across the floor for a steal, chased the ball out of bounds and flew into the stands to save it. First time this guy’s played in forever and he has no fear.
Things have not been the same for the Bulls since Ball suffered his injury during that 2021-22 season. After all, they were the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference at the time and appeared to be building toward a potential deep playoff run with a core of Ball, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vučević and Alex Caruso.
Yet they fell to the No. 6 seed without him and lost in the first round before losing in the play-in tournament during the next two seasons while he was sidelined.
DeRozan and Caruso aren’t even on the roster anymore, but a healthy Ball would elevate the ceiling for a Bulls squad that may otherwise have trouble competing with the top teams in the Eastern Conference in the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers, Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks.
He and the rest of the team will have one more preseason contest to prepare for the upcoming campaign when they face the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday.
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