The Bulls are set to begin their season tonight as they face the Heat in Miami. After following the team through the offseason and pre-season most would expect that outside of point guard Lonzo Ball the team would be ready to go. Well, that was the thought process until yesterday. The news came out yesterday that starting point guard Zach LaVine could potentially miss the season opener. Yes, LaVine had an off-season knee procedure done. However, he played in all of the team’s preseason games and appeared to be fine. LaVine himself said last Friday that he was healthy. Now here we are about to start the 2022-23 season and LaVine is officially out for the first game.
Bulls All-Star Zach LaVine (left knee management) will miss tonight’s opener vs. Heat.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 19, 2022
They are labeling this as load management. However, you shouldn’t need load management after 10 days of rest and going into the first game of the season. This is something you would expect to see mid-way through the season or on the back end of a back-to-back series. This came as a surprise to a lot of people and has everyone asking the question, what are the Bulls hiding?
Expect this throughout the season
By all accounts, LaVine was ready to play and thought he was healthy enough for game action. He even said it when asked last week.
Zach LaVine on Friday: "The main thing is I’m healthy and I feel really good. Not having any aches and pains and being able to play without any limitations in my own mind is huge."
LaVine is ruled OUT for the season opener due to issues with the same knee… pic.twitter.com/D0XvydYvPz
— BullsMuse (@bullsmuse) October 19, 2022
So what happened in the past 5 days that he will miss the first game of the season? No one has shed any light on what the issue is as of right now. LaVine touched on it when speaking with reporters earlier today in Miami, but he didn’t say much.
Zach LaVine told reporters here in Miami that he isn’t feeling specific soreness/pain in his knee. Management like today could be expected throughout the rest of the season.
Still uncertain if he will play in DC but it hadn’t been ruled out yet.
— Julia Poe (@byjuliapoe) October 19, 2022
This doesn’t exactly give anyone confidence moving forward. If he isn’t feeling any specific soreness/pain in his knee then why is he being managed in the first game of the season? It’s to the point where he can’t even go out on the floor and test it which means something is wrong. He is ruled out for the opener and this is likely something we will see a lot this season given how things are starting. With limited answers, it has a lot of people wondering what the Bulls or LaVine are hiding.
Is this something to be worried about in the long term?
Don’t forget the Bulls gave LaVine a max contract in the off-season. One has to wonder if this is just the team playing things extremely safe to capitalize on all the money spent on him. However, if it isn’t then there’s cause for concern. This is something that could turn into a situation like Lonzo Ball. He likely won’t hit the court until mid-season due to knee injuries. The Bulls are likely trying to avoid having two injured guards but doing it like this seems suspicious.
If Zach is hurt, the Bulls need to just say it.
If it is sincerely injury management, why the hell did they have him play in three preseason contests as opposed to the first two regular season games? They have some explaining to do.
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) October 19, 2022
If the situation is that LaVine has something wrong then the team needs to share that. Going through a season where you may have LaVine for 2 games and then not see him for 2 isn’t going to help in the long run. A lot of people have come back from knee surgeries and required load management but doing it to start a season is questionable. At this point who knows if this will be long-term. We don’t have any more information than what has been mentioned. Maybe we will hear more after the game tonight but we may get another load management answer and that’s that.
It’s time to start the season
Regardless of LaVine’s status, the season starts tonight in Miami. The Bulls are down their starting guards and will yet again have to alter the starting lineup early in the season. If this continues it’s going to be hard to believe in this team competing. Hopefully, we are given more answers after tonight’s game. For now, the Bulls tip off at 7:30 ET and hope to get their first win of the season. Let’s hope the replacement guards are ready to go and can take control as they likely will be doing throughout the season.
I had no idea NBA was still a thing.