Lonzo Ball, one of the NBA's most talented point guards, has finally opened up about the devastating knee injury that completely altered his career. For the past few days, news had been circulating on social media that Lonzo had announced his retirement, but now he himself has put an end to all these rumors and clearly stated that he is still waiting to return to the NBA.
Lonzo Ball was speaking with Gilbert Arenas on the 'Ball in the Family' podcast on September 22nd, where he reflected on his nine-year NBA journey. He became very emotional and said, "I feel like I've given everything to basketball, and everything I have in my life is because of it. I'm grateful that I made it to the league and played for nine years. I don't think I ever reached my peak, and honestly, that's very sad. But at the same time, there are people in the world who don't even have food to eat at night, that's how I see the world."
The injury that changed everything
Lonzo Ball was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers as the No. 2 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. After the Lakers, he played two of the best seasons of his career with the New Orleans Pelicans, where he averaged 13.1 points, 6.4 assists, and 5.5 rebounds in 118 games.
In 2021, he joined the Chicago Bulls and by January 2022, he was in the best form of his career. But then he suffered a meniscus tear in his left knee. What was initially predicted to be a six-week injury became the biggest tragedy of his career. Following this injury, he underwent multiple surgeries. By 2023, the condition had worsened to the point where he had no cartilage left in his knee, which doctors described as "bone on bone." He even had to undergo a cartilage transplant.
Due to this devastating injury, Lonzo missed two full seasons, 2022-23 and 2023-24, missing a single game. He was away from the court for over 1,000 days. During this time, he attempted several comebacks, but the swelling and pain in his knee returned each time.
Lonzo still struggles with pain daily
In the podcast, Lonzo revealed that his knee hasn't fully healed. He said that recently, his knee had become swollen again while playing. Even in everyday life, he requires constant yoga, stretching, and ice packs to remain mobile. He said, "It still hurts, sometimes it feels like I'm playing on stilts because I can't stop immediately, otherwise the pain gets worse."
How did the retirement rumors start?
A short clip of his emotional podcast conversation was shared on X (formerly Twitter) by a popular account, @LakeShowYo. Upon seeing the clip, people assumed Lonzo had announced his retirement. Several major media portals quickly ran the headline "Lonzo Ball Retires."
But just hours after the news went viral, on September 23rd, Lonzo himself appeared on X and dismissed the rumors. He jokingly wrote, "I retired? I didn't even know lol because I'm still waiting for the call... there's a whole NBA season left."
This one tweet made it clear that he's not going anywhere.
What's next for Lonzo?
Lonzo returned with the Chicago Bulls last season in 2024-25, but was then traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers. He averaged 4.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 3.9 assists in 35 games for the Cavs, the lowest averages of his career. In February, the Cavs traded him to the Utah Jazz, and Utah waived him the next day without playing a single game.
Since then, he has been an unrestricted free agent and is awaiting an offer from a team. He also revealed that last week he received an offer to play in Dubai, but he declined because he still wants to play in the NBA.
It hasn't been an easy journey for the 28-year-old Lonzo, but his statement that he won't give up is a ray of hope for his fans.
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