Bulls’ Lonzo Ball returns to NBA after almost three-year absence: “It was a moment I will never forget”

At the 6:08 mark of the first quarter of the Chicago Bulls’ preseason game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday, Lonzo Ball checked into an NBA game for the first time in nearly three years and received a warm standing ovation.

After three knee surgeries in the last two years, the most recent being a cartilage transplant from a cadaver, a rare procedure for which there is not a single successful recovery by an NBA player, it would have been enough for Ball to just run and hit the court a few times down. The fact that he looked like, well, Lonzo Ball — like he hadn’t missed a single shot — was nothing short of magical, if not miraculous.

There’s hardly a greater goosebump-inducing moment in a preseason game than Ball making his first 3-point attempt 43 seconds after checking in.

Later in the first quarter, Ball made his second three-pointer from well beyond the arc.

This is the player we remember. Ball may have entered the league as the focal point of an offense, but he found his true calling as an off-ball shooter and elite defender. Ball, who completely revamped his sweater with the Pelicans, shot over 42% from 3 on more than seven attempts per game in his final NBA regular season, the 2021-22 season. This is top notch stuff.

“It felt a lot better playing than watching, I can tell you that,” Ball told reporters in his postgame press conference. “I can’t really put into words how I felt out there, I was just blessed and lucky to be out there, man. All the support around me was great, all night long. It was definitely a moment I will never forget.” “

Ball, who scored 10 points on 4 of 6 shooting in 15 minutes in the Bulls’ 125-123 win, also scored on two cuts, finishing one with a left-handed up-and-under and then slipping the seam for a layup in one little two-man action with Zach LaVine. Here’s a look at all four of his buckets, including a replay of both threes because they were just that cool.

It wasn’t just the shooting. Ball is an old-school player who prefers to advance the ball without dribbling more than is absolutely necessary. He is a connector (he had the hockey assist on a Coby White 3 by simply getting the ball to the middle of the court and allowing the distance to open up for the pass-pass sequence to the corner) and one of the most effective forward passers in the league.

Josh Giddey, who the Bulls traded this summer, is another exceptional pacer, and you can see here how quickly Giddey and Ball can combine to create a transition basket, even after a substitution on the other side.

Aside from the impressive stats, it was just incredible how great Ball looked. I would even call it incredible – the way he moved, in full rhythm. He was all over the place at both ends of the pitch, switching, cutting and defending, and did so with equal pace and patience.

If Ball had gotten a little too excited and gotten a little ahead of himself, who could have blamed him? But he wasn’t the least bit nervous. He was in complete control of his own game and the game as a whole. His feel, as general as that term may be, has always been a particularly brilliant part of his basketball package, and that hasn’t changed after a three-year hiatus. Again, after such a devastating injury and such a long recovery, it’s almost unbelievable.

“I didn’t think about it [the knee] “Not at all,” Ball said. “That’s a positive thing.” I didn’t feel it at all. I felt like I was moving great. So now it’s about building up and just taking it night after night.

And that’s not to mention the defender he had become before the knee problems. Along with Alex Caruso in Chicago, Ball was one half of a two-man perimeter wrecking force, switching and deflecting at every level as a top-five steal dealer and bona fide shot blocker, causing havoc.

Just like on offense, Ball picked up right where he left off on defense. Here he helps Julius Randle and blocks his shot out of bounds.

Here he keeps the ball In He made a sensational save while flying to the Bulls’ bench after sneaking up behind Randle for a steal – a play that predictably energized the crowd at the United Center.

“The instinctive [defensive] Plays, that’s not going to go anywhere,” Ball said. “It’s more about being on the ball and getting over screens like I used to. “I’ll get that back. But I feel comfortable off the ball.”

In addition to all that Ball has to offer on the field, he is also a popular teammate. In a notable departure from the drama his father caused when he entered the league, Ball always let his play do the talking.

Ball has kept his head down every step of the way and gotten the job done through multiple reinventions – from a guy expected to be the face of the Lakers to a role player in New Orleans, from a flawed shooter to an elite shooter and now, from a cursed player whose career seemed doomed to the guy we just saw on Wednesday night who looked like he was just starting over.

Everyone respects that kind of grind. It was no surprise to see Ball’s teammates honoring him with a game ball in the locker room after the game.

Despite the good feeling, Ball will no longer be the same player as before. The Bulls will take every precaution possible with him, starting with what Ball confirmed was a 16-minute limit and a strict ban on playing back-to-back games.

He will of course try to push those boundaries because he obviously loves to play. He didn’t have to do any of this to get back. He has already earned almost $100 million in his career. Ball is what teammates call a hooper. He was born to play basketball, and as this experiment continues, we’ll all be keeping our fingers crossed that he can continue to do so for many years to come.

But that is anything but guaranteed.

It is important to reiterate that an NBA player never returned to action after this surgery. Festus Ezeli became the first NBA player to attempt something similar when he underwent cadaveric ligament replacement surgery in 2017. He never played another NBA game.

That sounds like a buzzkill, but it’s just the harsh reality Ball now faces. A great preseason game is one thing; but he managed to get through a full season of relatively light use, not with a surgically repaired knee; created Knee – is a completely different challenge.

If this works, Ball will undoubtedly become a beacon of hope for other players who may be dealing with career-ending knee injuries. It’s tempting to jump to the conclusion that this will be the case after watching him play on Wednesday, but that would be a mistake. This is a one-game-at-a-time situation. But man, what a first game it was.