The Lonzo Ball era could’ve been so different. For the briefest time, the Chicago Bulls looked like genuine contenders. With the guidance of the young point guard, they went 22-13 to start the 2021-2022 season. Tragically, everything came crashing down when he destroyed his knee. Ball had to spend the next two years rehabbing. Some felt he’d never be able to return at all. That he did was considered a minor miracle. While he didn’t play regularly last season, he showed flashes of the player he was before the injury.
Some had hoped the Bulls would keep Ball, giving him a chance to regain his old form. However, that no longer became possible after the team traded for Josh Giddey. He is their future at point guard. That meant Ball was on the market. Chicago ended up dealing him to the Cleveland Cavaliers for athletic forward Isaac Okoro. Some have wondered if the point guard is bitter about how things ended with the Bulls. He finally broke his silence on the What An Experience podcast.
No, he isn’t bitter. In fact, he’s grateful the Bulls sent him to a place where he finally has a chance to win.
“I feel like it’s just a blessing, bro. To be honest, I mean, everybody keeps asking me how I feel about the trade. I’m like, I’m happy to still be playing anywhere, let alone a team that has a real chance to win a ring. My whole life, I feel like I’ve been playing the right brand of basketball, and that’s to win games. So I feel like I’m going to a great situation and I just want to play my role and do what I can to help.”
Lonzo Ball has been snakebit by basketball fate.
It always seems like he ends up on bad teams. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers and was traded right before they won their championship during the pandemic. Two years with the New Orleans Pelicans saw them barely crack 30 wins before being moved to Chicago. They made the playoffs that year and ended up with back-to-back winning seasons after that. Lonzo Ball finally joins a team ready to win in 2021, only to obliterate his knee barely halfway through. It just doesn’t seem fair. He has played the game correctly since arriving in the NBA. Players like that deserve to be rewarded with success. Hopefully, he gets his wish granted on a good Cleveland team in a suddenly wide-open Eastern Conference.
