Lonzo Ball says the injuries that have disrupted his NBA career have taken away some of the joy of playing basketball, but he has focused on adapting to his physical limitations rather than dwelling on what he could previously do.
Speaking on Curious Mike, Ball reflected on the reality that every player eventually has to adjust to physical decline, whether through injuries or age.
“I mean it definitely takes some joy away from it obviously because you can’t do what you want to do,” Ball said. “I think everybody just faces that at some point in their career eventually.”
Ball pointed to LeBron James as an unusual exception before explaining that physical limitations eventually force most players to change their approach.
“Something’s going to happen where you start declining,” Ball said. “And it’s always going to be like, damn, I wish I could do this. I wish I could do that. But I never really live life like, looking in the past or nothing like that.”
The 28-year-old missed the entire 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons because of knee injuries, a two-year absence that interrupted what had been a productive start to his career. Before the injuries, Ball averaged 13.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.8 steals in 35 games with the Chicago Bulls during the 2021-22 season.
He also shot 42.3% from three-point range that season, making 3.1 triples per game. His 56.7% effective field-goal percentage was the highest of his career.
After returning to the court in 2024-25, Ball appeared in 35 games and averaged 7.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 22.2 minutes. He was then traded from Chicago to Cleveland in July 2025 in exchange for Isaac Okoro.
Ball made another 35 appearances for the Cavaliers during the 2025-26 season, including three starts, averaging 4.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 20.8 minutes. His shooting numbers dropped to 30.1% from the field and 27.2% from three-point range.
Still, Ball said his approach to returning was centered on identifying what remained possible rather than comparing himself with his pre-injury version.
“When I came back, I was like, ‘Okay, boom, I can’t do this, this, and that, but I can do this, this, and that,’” Ball said. “So, we going to shape some type of way to make this work.”
Ball also looked back on his Cleveland stint with a simple assessment of what he believed might have changed his production.
“Honestly, the sh*t would have been fine in Cleveland if I would have just made an extra two shots a game,” he said.
Ball was traded to the Utah Jazz on Feb. 5, 2026, and waived the same day. Across seven NBA seasons, he has played 322 games and averaged 10.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.5 steals.
