Getty Los Angeles Lakers guard Lonzo Ball
The latest step forward in Lonzo Ball’s progress towards a potential return to action for the Los Angeles Lakers involved some light on-court work. But it seems the positive injury update on the ankle of the second-year guard left him missing the game even more than before. While Ball has been sidelined since January 21, he was on the Lakers practice court Tuesday afternoon and got some shots up.
Unfortunately, as you can see in a video revealed by Mike Trudell of the team’s official website, it was just some standing jump shots.
Lonzo Ball continues to work with the strength and athletic training staffs trying to get back from his ankle injury. He’s yet to do anything on the court with the team, though is currently doing some light shooting (but not really jumping):
Trudell also points out that Ball hasn’t done anything with the team to this point, so he doesn’t seem to have taken any massive strides forward in his rehab. It’s certainly tough news, but you have to feel especially bad for Ball, who obviously wants to be on the floor with his teammates.
Lonzo Ball Takes to Instagram After Getting Shots Up
While it was surely a good feeling to at least be able to get on the court and shoot some, Ball posted on Instagram a bit after. He put up a photo of himself going up for a dunk with the caption “Miss it…” with a basketball emoji.
For what it’s worth, it seems Ball has at least gotten some additional shots up in previous practices, but from Luke Walton’s comments, it doesn’t sound like it’s happened a ton.
“That type of stationary, spot-shooting – he’s done that a couple times, but that’s as much as he’s done,” Walton stated.
Could Lonzo Ball Need Surgery?
While Ball is slowly trending in the right direction, there were rumblings that surgery on his injured ankle may be on the table. Lakers analyst Anthony Irwin was a guest on the Locked on NBA podcast and stated that he doesn’t believe Ball will play again this year. Going one step further, Irwin also pointed out that this injury would typically require surgery. The podcast was transcribed by Express.co.uk:
“I don’t think we’re going to see Lonzo Ball again this year,” Irwin said.
“He had that Grade 3 ankle sprain that the Lakers said was going to keep him out for four-to-six weeks, which is the general statement with any non-serious sports injury.”
“But they said it was a Grade 3 sprain, which usually requires surgery.
“You look at other Grade 3 spins that didn’t require surgery, they usually came back in more of an eight-to-10-to-12 week range.”
We’ll have to play the wait-and-see game, but as each game goes by, it becomes less likely that Ball will return to action. This especially stands true considering the fact that the Lakers’ playoff chances are bleak.
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