At the start of the second episode of his podcast The WAE Show, Lonzo Ball provided an update on the recovery process of the injury that's left him sidelined for most of his time with the Chicago Bulls.
"To make a long story short, ultimately it started with the meniscus tear, basically started on the Lakers when I tore it the first time," said Ball at the one-minute mark above. He missed the entirety of the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. "Tore it a couple more times to a point to where there was no more, basically, not much meniscus left, and bone on bone was rubbing. So the cartilage was gone and the bone was messed up, so I had to get actually a new meniscus from a donor."
He added that he's also had to get a bone allograft and new cartilage put in his knee as a result of the injury. "All that finally healed up and now I'm back on the court now," he shared. "Really was about, I would say we're like what, 14, 15 months in now. So the stuff before that, we were trying to figure out what the problem was, so that was a wasted year. But now we're here."
Last month, Chicago Bulls executive vice president of operations Artūras Karnišovas told reporters that Ball is "progressing well," per Bleacher Report.
"We're just going to wait and see his progression the next couple of months," Karnišovas said. "He's progressing well. Everything is looking with no setbacks. So we'll see where he's at in a couple of months."
Lonzo Ball was out halfway through the 2021-22 season after suffering a torn meniscus, but he expected to be back on the court before the end of the season. He underwent multiple surgeries and went through with a cartilage transplant in March 2023. As of right now, it appears he's gearing up to return to the court for the 2024-25 season.
