Lonzo Ball isn’t going to put up with criticism about his knee injury.
On Tuesday, the Chicago Bulls point guard posted a video of him standing on his left leg and sitting down and standing up in a chair to clap back at Stephen A. Smith questioning Ball’s ability to return from a lingering knee injury.
“Stephen A., who are your sources, bro? Please tell me who your sources are,” Ball said as he did repetitions of the exercise in front of a pool. “C’mon, man. C’mon, man. You gotta stop yapping. And I actually like you, man. I don’t even know you like that. But I like you! I’m coming back, man, c’mon!”
The video was posted in response to Smith’s recent comments on ESPN’s “First Take.”
“Something went wrong in terms of these procedures that he’s had. I don’t think he’ll ever be the same based off what we’re seeing and hearing and reading about,” Smith said. “I’ve heard that it’s even hard for him to get up from a seated position.”
Smith responded to Ball’s video with a post of his own.
“Happy to do so, Lonzo,” Smith said. “Nice to know you’d finally like me to reach out. Not a problem. You know how to reach me, too. I’m here.”
In March, the Bulls announced that Ball would undergo a third knee procedure in 14 months after he tore his meniscus in January 2022. He hasn’t played a game since suffering the injury and missed the entire 2022-23 season because he couldn’t play pain free. In June, the team said it was not expecting him to suit up for the upcoming season, either.
Ball, the older brother of LiAngelo and LaMelo, was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 draft. He was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans in the 2019 offseason in the deal that sent Anthony Davis to the Lakers. Ball was then shipped to the Windy City in a trade ahead of the 2021-22 season.
He was averaging 13.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.1 assists and a career-high 1.8 steals as the Bulls’ starting point guard before getting injured.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lonzo Ball blasts Stephen A. Smith for questioning ability to return
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