LaVar Ball Updates Lonzo's Knee Injury Status; Says Bulls PG Had 'Debris in a Nerve'

Lonzo Ball hasn't played a game since January 2022 because of a knee injury that required multiple surgeries, and the Chicago Bulls point guard's father, LaVar, provided a health update during an appearance on the Gimme The Hot Sauce podcast.

LaVar Ball said there was "debris in a nerve" but that Lonzo "is going to be fine" (h/t K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago).

The UCLA product's journey back has been far more difficult than initially expected when he was ruled out for six to eight weeks following surgery for a torn meniscus.

It seemed like he might make it back in time for the 2022 playoffs, but that never happened and he underwent an arthroscopic procedure in September.

What's more, he told reporters he couldn't run or jump in September, adding that going up stairs was "still painful."

In January, head coach Billy Donovan said Ball is "nowhere near playing," per Julia Poe of the Chicago Tribune. Poe noted the point guard wasn't running at full speed, wasn't cleared for contact and high-intensity drills, and had only made "marginal improvements."

Ball's health has been an unfortunate reality for the Bulls, who were playing at a high-level last season before he was sidelined. They reached the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference standings, but tumbled to sixth by season's end with him sidelined and lost in the first round to the Milwaukee Bucks.

They haven't found any consistency without him this season and sit in 11th place in the standings at 23-27.

A Chicago team with DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine on the wings and Nikola Vučević as a pick-and-pop big in the frontcourt could use a point guard like Ball who can facilitate to put teammates in an ideal position or score himself with his outside shot to create additional spacing.

Yet Ball's 2022-23 campaign remains in serious doubt with the stretch run approaching.