Chicago Bulls point guard Lonzo Ball will be out at least six weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee.
Ball opted to have arthroscopic surgery on his left knee and will miss up to eight weeks recovering, the team said on Thursday.
Initially, Ball missed the Bulls’ last three games with what was thought to be a bone bruise.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the surgery was later determined to be needed after other methods of treatment weren’t working.
The injury is “described as a slight meniscus tear.”
Ball previously underwent meniscus surgery in his left knee back in 2018.
Ball has averaged 13 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 5.1 assists in 35 games this season, his first in Chicago after spending the last two with the New Orleans Pelicans.
The 24-year-old is in the first year of a four-year, $80 million deal.
At best, given his six-week minimum absence, Ball could return sometime in early March.
The Bulls, who still hold a slight lead in the Eastern Conference, have lost five of their last seven, but they snapped a four-game losing skid on Wednesday with a 117-104 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Chicago is set to kick off a three-game road trip on Friday in Milwaukee.
Lonzo Ball was drafted second overall by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2017 NBA Draft.
He found consistent success in New Orleans and now as a member of the Bulls.