Lonzo Ball, point guard for the Chicago Bulls right now, has suffered some irreparable damage to his knee. There are many more causes for Lonzo Ball’s bad health than are seen to the eye. 

Rise of sensational talent

The UCLA guard was the focus of the sports world in the twelve months building up to the 2017 draft. He established the desire for himself and his family to play in the NBA. Lonzo was a senior at Chino Hills High School in 2016 and swiftly rose to the top of his country. He would assist in leading Chino Hills, along with his two brothers LaMelo and LiAngelo, to one of the greatest seasons ever, including an absurd run of 35-0.

Lonzo Ball gained widespread attention before being taken with the second overall pick by his home team, the Los Angeles Lakers. Where  he would play with the great LeBron James and acquire insight into what it takes to be great. Everyone had great expectations for Ball because they could see how generational he might be with such a unique game.

The rise of Big Baller Brand

The biggest draw for Lonzo Ball was his father’s antics. Where his father Lavar Ball, would claim that he was going to be a basketball great. Due to their success, they made the decision to launch their own family business, Big Baller Brand. 

For months, the family actively promoted the products, and whenever they appeared on television, they were almost certainly wearing apparel from the Big Baller Brand. After building up anticipation for months, Lonzo Ball would unveil his first pair of signature shoes, the ZO2. Ball, who has yet to play in the NBA would ask fans to pay an alarming $495 for these shoes.

Prioritizing Big Baller Brand over his health

Ball’s injuries from the shoe were not mentioned initially. Later, in the summer of 2019, Lonzo Ball would admit that he had to replace his famed Big Baller Brand sneakers every basketball quarter because they kept ripping.

He would say that they were produced too soon and instruct his management to transfer him to Nike since he was no longer able to bear the suffering. He would perform noticeably worse on the court while wearing the sneakers than when he wore other brands during his rookie season with the Los Angeles Lakers. 

Early in March 2019 the Lakers would even approach him about the footwear, wondering if the shoes were contributing to ankle issues. Lonzo Ball would dismiss this, saying he was comfortable playing in them. He would be lying and it being his own signature shoe was the motivation to possibly ruining his career with injuries.

Looking at his injuries now and the cause of it

When looking at now he is still a viable point guard with his playmaking and shooting still being elite. Recently, Lonzo Ball has made headlines due to knee damage that even physicians have never seen before, requiring a third consecutive left knee surgery that may keep him out of action until the 2025 season. The doctors are hopeful that this cartilage transplant procedure will be able to revive Ball’s career.

The problem always goes to his health because he has missed about 40% of games in his career to date. Lavar Ball, his father, wanted to make sure that his son had every advantage over his competitors.

Although he has been a successful basketball prodigy since he was four years old, his dedication to training from his father could haunt him with injuries for the rest of his life. Lavar had his kids work out consistently at a strict training regimen that eventually put a ton of mileage on Lonzo’s legs. 

Specialists view

As players age, it is beginning to catch up with them as, according to NBA commissioner Adam Silver, orthopedic specialists are encountering these problems more frequently.

Orthopedics claim that when you specialize in a single sport, you are more prone to have severe overuse injuries, such as cartilage, bone, and ligament damage. All of this brings up Lonzo Ball’s past, in which he has faced criticism for exhibiting startlingly poor technique in training videos.

Michael Ebner, a high school football player, describes what he attributes to having a successful football career. “Always remaining physically active, learning from my peers in different sports helped shape my work ethic that enabled me play football for a whole four years healthy,” he says.