(670 The Score) Bulls coach Billy Donovan on Friday tempered expectations on guard Lonzo Ball's left knee rehab after Ball posted a series of videos on social media that included him dunking and running on a treadmill, with Donovan explaining that Ball is progressing gradually but still hasn't done any of the advanced physical work that would represent a breakthrough.
"I saw them, the medical guys showed it to me," Donovan said of the videos. "He's progressed. I think you're seeing a lot of the things that maybe I was told. Those were things that maybe six weeks ago he couldn't do. As much as they're little steps, it's still progress that he's continuing to make. But I think the idea of running, cutting, sprinting, doing it day after day after day, where he's at in terms of right now to getting to that point, that's where the timetable becomes very difficult. But the things that you saw him do, he wasn't able to do. So it's progress, but it's just really, really slow."
Saturday will mark the one-year anniversary since the last time the 25-year-old Ball played in a game. He initially suffered from a meniscus tear and a bone bruise, and he underwent surgery late last January. When Ball's knee health didn't improve over the summer, he then had an arthroscopic debridement procedure on his left knee in late September. It marked the third operation on it in his professional basketball career.
In late December, Ball had progressed to light jogging and jumping while shooting, but there remains no timetable for his return. On Friday evening, Donovan fielded a question from a reporter on how much pain Ball is having and answered using the word "pain," though a Bulls official later added that "discomfort" is a better term to explain what Ball is feeling these days.
"The way it was explained to me is maybe doing those things six weeks ago – I'm not saying this is the number – but if 10 was excruciating and 1 is not bad, maybe he was at a 7 or 8 six weeks ago," Donovan said. "And now he's at like a 2 or 3 in doing some of those things. So is there pain there? Yes, there's still some discomfort there, but not at the level it was six weeks ago. Again, I'm not trying to say what Lonzo's pain is. But the question is does he have pain? Yes. Is it the same pain he was dealing with six weeks ago? No. How much better is it? It's good enough that he can get on a treadmill and do some running and he can go jump and go dunk the ball."
Donovan also emphasized that if Ball gets cleared to run and cut at full speed, there will still be a long process for him to return to action.
"There's going to be a pretty significant ramp-up period for him before he can get back on the floor," Donovan said. "Once they say, 'Hey, he's free to cut and sprint and take on contact and do all that stuff,' that's just the first step of however long that's going to take, that process to get to a place where the medical guys and he feels comfortable that he's built up enough endurance, strength and stamina that he can withstand coming back the next day and doing it again and doing it again. Because I think in those situations as he tries to regain his conditioning and his timing and those kinds of things, what sets those things back are is the next day he can't do anything. I don't know where that's going to be when that time comes, but I think the medical guys will be very, very careful in terms of making sure he's got a pretty long runway to be able to prove and show that he's able to have enough strength and endurance."
Ball played in 35 games last season, averaging 13 points and 5.1 assists while also shooting 42.3% from 3-point range on high volume. He's the catalyst of the Bulls' transition game, a superb passer and a strong defender. The Bulls have felt his loss, struggling at 19-23 this season.
Cody Westerlund is a sports editor for 670TheScore.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.
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