Bulls' Lonzo Ball Says He's 'About 70' Percent Recovered from Knee Injury amid Rehab | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

Chicago Bulls point guard Lonzo Ball hasn't played in an NBA game since January 2022, but he is progressing toward a potential return.

"It's coming along, man. Week by week," Ball said of his knee injury on his podcast, What an Experience. "It's improving, so that's all I can ask for. Still not where I want it to be. Out of 100 (percent), I'd say I'm about 70 (percent). Good enough to play, but it could still get better. I still got a long summer ahead of me. But definitely looking forward to the future."

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.<a href="">@ZO2_</a> gives us an update on his recovery ❤️! <a href="">

The Ball injury was a setback that Chicago never fully recovered from after it added him via a sign-and-trade ahead of the 2021-22 campaign.

The Bulls were the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference in the early going of his first season and seemed to have a formidable core of Ball, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vučević and Alex Caruso. They worked well together in large part because of Ball's ability to set his teammates up in ideal positions to score.

Even the initial injury didn't seem like a significant problem, as he was expected to miss six-to-eight weeks and return in time for the playoffs.

Yet he didn't return that season as the Bulls fell to the No. 6 seed and lost in the first round. He also didn't play during the 2022-23 or 2023-24 seasons, and Chicago lost in the play-in tournament both years.

Ryan Taylor of NBC Sports Chicago noted Ball has undergone three surgeries on his right knee since January 2022, one of which was a cartilage transplant.

Still, the UCLA product seems to be in a better place than earlier in his rehab when things such as walking up stairs and jumping caused him pain.

Ball exercised the player option on his contract for the 2024-25 season, underscoring how important it will be for him to return to the floor. After all, he is still just 26 years old and could play his way into a noteworthy contract if he returns somewhat to form when he is back on the court.

And Chicago could also use him facilitating and hitting from the outside as it looks to move from the play-in tournament into the actual postseason.