“Maybe is always a great word,” answered Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton at shootaround when asked if it was possible Lonzo Ball would return from an MCL sprain on Thursday.
Initially diagnosed with a sprain that the team considered minor, Ball has not played since tweaking his knee in an overtime victory against the Dallas Mavericks on Jan. 13. Ball himself downplayed the notion he’d miss significant time.
Two weeks later, the Lakers clarified that Ball had a sprain of his MCL, which impacts lateral movement.
The rookie point guard slowly built up to resuming on-court activities but his knee did not respond favorably when the workload was increased during the Lakers’ road trip.