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LaVar Bell has weighed in on his son Lonzo’s future amidst a ton of uncertainty and rumors.
The Chicago Bulls point guard played 35 games before going down with a meniscus tear in his left knee on January 14 of 2022. He hasn’t played since, and there are legitimate questions about whether or not he’ll play again this season — and some are even wondering if his NBA career may be over.
On the February 1 episode of former Bull Stacey King’s “Gimme the Hot Sauce” podcast, LaVar was asked directly if Lonzo would play in the NBA again, he answered in the affirmative before giving more details about his son’s injury.
LaVar Ball: I Told Lonzo to ‘Do Everything Slow’
“His gift is not scoring points, his gift is not assists. His gift is: He makes everyone around him better,” LaVar said about Lonzo.
King noted that Ball’s presence as a ball distributor made other players like DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine more efficient scorers. LaVar agreed and then explained why he wasn’t concerned about his son coming back.
“You’ve got a lot of folks who sit out for a year or two. Look at Michael Porter, the dude for Denver,” Ball said, also mentioning Zion Williamson, who missed 44 games for the Pelicans his rookie season before coming back strong the following year. Porter Jr., who was the 14th overall pick in 2018, had his young career has been plagued by injury. He missed all but nine games last year.
Ball also says he has been making sure Lonzo doesn’t rush back onto the court too soon.
“Like I told him, do everything slow,” Ball revealed. “Don’t be 70% and try to come out there, be 100%. So whenever you’re 100% come back and be ready to go. It ain’t about sitting out one game, 20 games. Worry about the money and stuff like that? Nah. Just make sure you’re healthy and good to go where you can play the same way.”
LaVar Ball Has Telling Comments On Lonzo’s NBA Future
At one point, Ball was asked directly if Lonzo would play another NBA game, and he didn’t hesitate.
“Lonzo is gonna be fine,” Ball said. “He’s only 25 years old. He’s gonna get his stuff together and gonna be ready to play and do his thing again. People gotta get off of that: ‘He’s gotta come back tomorrow or next week or next month. He had some debris in the nerve … that’s why he couldn’t get nothing done. Debris in the nerve doesn’t allow you to bend or stretch. But all that’s done now. So now it’s about getting your strength back and then getting your endurance.”
Ball averaged 13.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.8 steals per game in his first season with the Bulls. He currently has no timetable to return.
“He’s made some progress, but I’d be the first one to tell you he’s nowhere near playing,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said about Ball on January 28, per The Chicago Tribune. “He’s just not. Because he’s not running on a consistent basis. When he can get to that place where he can do that consistently and be able to come back the next day and do it again, do it again and do it again — I think you’ll feel a little bit more optimistic.”
Whenever he does return, LaVar has a message for his Lonzo’s doubters.
“Lonzo’s gonna make everybody believers, man,” he said.
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