NEW ORLEANS — When Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball checked in during the first quarter Wednesday, his first regular-season game in more than two years, he did so without fanfare.
He had been through an emotional return in the preseason — when he played in an NBA game for the first time following a cartilage transplant in his left knee in March 2023 — and his teammates gifted him the game ball and celebrated him in the locker room.
But against the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday, he played in his first regular-season game since Jan. 14, 2022, recording 5 points, 4 assists and 2 rebounds in 14 minutes in a 123-111 Chicago loss.
Afterward, Ball downplayed the significance of this latest milestone. «It felt pretty similar to the preseason games, to be honest,» Ball said. «Same shots was there.