After Losing 2 Years To Injury Lonzo Ball Finally Makes His Return To The NBA Tonight

Michael Reaves. Getty Images.

The last time we saw Lonzo Ball on an NBA court (January 14th, 2022), the league was in a much different place. Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving were on the Nets, Dame was a Blazer, Wemby wasn't in the NBA, the Nuggets and Celtics hadn't won their titles, Brunson and Porzingis were in Dallas, the list goes on and on. So while it was technically only 2 years on the calendar, that's a lifetime in the NBA.

What's also true is back in 2022, Lonzo Ball was having arguably the best season of his career while the Bulls were in first place in the East. Once Lonzo went out and was done for the season after playing just 35 games, the Bulls were able to hang around and secure the 6th seed before ultimately losing in 5 games to the Bucks. Since that moment in mid-January, I think it's safe to say that things haven't been all that great for the Bulls, and I truly think they had something there when Lonzo was healthy.

So as you can imagine, his return to the court tonight after missing two seasons is a pretty big deal. Who knows if he'll be the same guy, but my guess is he didn't lose his ability to read a defense and create for others. If he's actually fully healthy, I see no reason why after getting in game shape we won't see him get back to doing the things that made him one of the best passing point guards in the league not to mention his ability to shoot 37-42% from deep. I would argue the Bulls' point guard depth looks pretty solid if we assume Lonzo can be around 80% of the player he was pre-injury with a group that consists of Giddey/Coby White/Ayo/Lonzo. You can certainly do worse in my opinion.

Listening to him talk after shootaround, you can tell this is a big moment for him and Bulls fans everywhere, but it's also a big day for anyone who enjoys basketball. A healthy Lonzo on the court is fun as shit to watch

I'm sure there were times when he thought his NBA career was cooked and he'd never play in the NBA again which had to be quite the mindfuck, so the fact that he's even available is a win regardless of what he looks like on the court. From talking shit to Stephen A Smith 

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to finally being back in the lineup, it's been a hell of a journey. The NBA is a better product when a player like Lonzo is healthy and on the court, so hopefully the Basketball Gods can throw him a bone and allow him to be healthy this entire season.