Lonzo Ball’s career has been shaped, and ultimately stalled, by injuries that changed everything about how he sees the game.
Once viewed as a guard with real value because of his playmaking and defense, Ball also kept developing as a shooter despite the noise around his form. But the body has become the story. What looked like a promising run has been derailed by a string of injuries that have left him fighting just to stay in the conversation.
The turning point came in early 2022, when Ball suffered a knee injury while playing for the Chicago Bulls. That setback opened the door to a long stretch of pain and rehab, and even the recovery process never really let him move on cleanly.
The injury also hit at a brutal time for Chicago, which was the best team in the Eastern Conference at the time. The Bulls weren’t being treated like title favorites, but they had a roster that could have made noise in the Playoffs.
Instead, the injury to Ball changed the course of that season, and neither he nor the Bulls have fully bounced back from it.
Since then, Ball has gone through multiple procedures and has never gotten all the way back to full health. He got another shot to prove himself in Cleveland, but his 2025-26 season stint with the Cavs went badly.
That reality has pushed Ball into reflection about what the sport feels like when your body won’t cooperate. Speaking to Michael Porter Jr. on the Curious Mike podcast, he said:
"I mean it definitely takes some joy away from it obviously, because you can’t do what you want to do. I think everybody just faces that at some point in their career eventually. You know, everybody, whether it’s age, age is going to get you," Ball said to Michael Porter Jr. on the Curious Mike podcast.
"I mean, unless you're LeBron other than him, like, you know, something’s going to happen where you start declining. You know what I’m saying?
And it’s always going to be like, damn, I wish I could do this. I wish I could do that."
Ball is only 28, which makes the whole thing sting even more. He came into basketball with plenty of hype and still has enough left to matter, but the injuries have taken a heavy toll. He’s still hoping for a return, though it will take a lot of work for that to happen.
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Cavaliers Suddenly Have A Top Tier Debate Fans Will Love
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Now the debate around Cleveland is less about whether they improved and more about how far that improvement can carry them. The leagues schedule makers have also put the Cavs in the spotlight, with 17 national television appearances on an 80-game slate and a series of eye-catching matchups against Eastern Conference rivals. For a team already climbing the rankings, the stage is set for plenty of scrutiny, and maybe even more discussion about where this group belongs when the season starts to take shape. [Read more 🡒]