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Reports: Lonzo Ball is expected to return for the preseason game on Wednesday

Reports: Lonzo Ball is expected to return for the preseason game on Wednesday

Lonzo Ball has been out since the 2021/22 season due to a knee injury.

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After being sidelined for more than two years, Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball plans to return to the field on Wednesday for a preseason game against the Minnesota Timberwolves (8 ET, NBA League Pass).

Ball, who hasn’t played since January 2022, received a new meniscus last year when he underwent a cartilage transplant in his left knee.

He also underwent a bone transplant, in which the replacement bone comes from another person. During an episode of his podcast “The WAE Show” in May, he said the problems dated back to when he tore his meniscus in 2018 as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers.

“To make a long story short, it all ultimately started with the torn meniscus,” Ball said. “Basically, it started with the Lakers when I tore it the first time. It tore it open a few more times until there was no meniscus left and bone-on-bone tires occurred. So the cartilage was gone. The bone was broken.”

The Bulls acquired Ball from New Orleans in a sign-and-trade deal prior to the 2021-22 season. He got off to a good start in Chicago, averaging 13 points and 5.1 assists while hitting 42.3% of his 3-pointers in 35 games before being derailed. He had a cartilage transplant in March 2023, his third knee surgery in just over a year.

Ball said it took him about 14 or 15 months to figure out the problem in his knee. After initially pausing, he had multiple starts and stops and experienced pain when jumping and climbing stairs. But he insisted he wants to be ready for the opener.

“I firmly believe that,” he said. “That’s the plan I’m following and I haven’t had any setbacks. I expect to play the first game.”

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.