Lonzo Ball has opened up about the devastating knee injury that changed the direction of his NBA career, while making it clear he hasn’t officially called it quits.
Ball was in the middle of an impressive first season with the Chicago Bulls when he suffered a left knee injury in January 2022. What was initially expected to keep him out for around six weeks eventually required multiple surgeries and kept him away from NBA basketball for more than 1,000 days.
Now 28, Ball admitted his knee remains something he has to manage every day during an appearance alongside Gilbert Arenas on the “Ball in the Family” podcast.
“I feel like I gave everything I had to hoop and I feel like everything I got in my life is because of hoop,” Ball said. “So I’m grateful to even make it to the league and even be able to play for nine years. That’s how I look at it.
“Your game changes. You see where you’re supposed to be and you physically can’t get there. You gotta be comfortable with yourself, to be honest with you. I feel like, to be honest, I don’t think I ever got to my peak. And it’s like, damn, that s*** sucks, but at the same time, there’s a lot of people, like, that don’t have meals to eat type s***. That’s how I look at the world.
“So, it’s like, damn, I still got to make it up there and got to play and put the jersey on and do everything I wanted to do as a kid, so that was enough for me to be happy.”
Those comments quickly sparked speculation that Ball was announcing his retirement, but that isn’t the case.
Ball responded to the retirement talk by saying he is “still waiting for a call,” according to Yahoo Sports’ Chris Cwik.
Whether that opportunity arrives remains uncertain. Ball averaged 4.6 points in limited action with Cleveland last season and remains unsigned, but for now, he hasn’t closed the door on playing again.
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