Many have already written off Chicago guard Lonzo Ball, but he insists his career isn’t over and is doubling down on his comments about his NBA future.
Ball and ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith had a very public debate about his recovery status as Smith claimed that Ball couldn’t stand from a sitting position.
Ball called him out for it by making a video and since then he has once again, affirmed he will be returning to the NBA court.
“I’m going to play again,” Ball said on a panel on Saturday, via The Athletic. “The outside noise doesn’t bother me. The Stephen A. thing, he has a wide platform. And, to me, I just don’t appreciate someone putting out fake news like that. Especially someone of his stature that can touch a lot of people. It’s just putting out the wrong thing. But that’s besides the point.”
The 25-year-old did admit it would probably be easy to just medically retire, given his lengthy time on the sidelines.
The setbacks he’s suffered from his January 2022 knee injury have been enormous but giving up is not what he’s striving towards.
“You have to realize that it’s just part of life,” Ball said. “Life is not easy. And, if you want to get the most out of it, you gotta put yourself forward, and put your best foot forward. So, for me, even when I get knocked down, you gotta get back up every time if you want to keep going. You can always quit and take the easy way out and hide and go to the side. But for me, if you want to get to a place that I want to get to, you just got to get back up, and dust off, and keep going.”
It has already been confirmed that the electric point guard will miss the whole 2023-24 season but he’s not down and out yet.
“For me, I know what I got to do to get back,” Ball said at Invest Fest. “And I’m just on a path, doing what I got to do every day. Taking it step by step. I don’t look too far ahead. But I know in my near future that I will be back on the court, for sure.”