Chicago Bulls

The Chicago Bulls are the perfect example of how one injury can impact a team (and a medical team’s) success. Guard Lonzo Ball has not played for the team since January 14, 2021 due to lingering issues with his knee. In that span, the Bulls have gone 55-66 (.472), a sizeable difference when compared to the 22-13 (.629) record they carry with Ball in the lineup.

Last season, 82 of the team’s 188 games (44 percent) lost to injury were the result of Ball’s missing year. The financial ramifications ran deeper as Ball alone accounted for 75 percent of the team’s total salary dollars. The trend will continue into the 2023-24 campaign as Ball is expected to miss the entire season following his third knee surgery, one that involved a cartilage transplant procedure. Fortunately, Director of Performance Health Chip Schaefer, Head Athletic Trainer Todd Campbell, and the rest of the Bulls medical staff has done a great job keeping their veteran core on the floor. Last season the trio of DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, and Nikola Vucevic played 1,642 minutes together, the highest total for any three-man unit in the NBA. Maintaining that success will be key in the Bulls once again competing for a playoff spot in a suddenly top-heavy Eastern Conference.