Not too long ago, Lonzo Ball was one of the most hyped players in the NBA.
Thanks largely to his father, who claimed he was better than Golden State Warriors great Stephen Curry, Ball was expected by many fans to become a perennial All-Star and a franchise player, perhaps even a Hall of Famer.
But he hasn’t even come close to making one All-Star team, and now his career is in jeopardy at the age of 25.
Ball hasn’t played since suffering a meniscus injury in January 2022, and Chicago Bulls vice president Arturas Karnisovas said he doesn’t expect the UCLA product back next season.
Bulls VP Arturas Karnisovas on Lonzo Ball: “Our expectation is that he’s not going to be back next season”
— Jamal Collier (@JamalCollier) June 23, 2023
It’s hard to imagine a pro athlete missing more than a few months with a meniscus injury, but then again, Ball has been peculiarly injury-prone since entering the NBA six years ago.
He has never played in as many as 65 games in a single season, and he seems to be a very slow healer in general.
Midway through the 2018-19 season as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, he sustained a sprained ankle, but instead of missing a maximum of about a month, which seems to be the standard recovery time for an NBA player from a severe sprain, he missed the entire rest of the season.
Ball is under contract for two more seasons at just over $20 million per annum, and he is starting to look like a bad investment for the Bulls.
He is turning into a sad story of wasted potential and perhaps a cautionary tale when it comes to excessive hype.
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