Billy Donovan said that Lonzo Ball is making progress on his left knee injury after Ball posted an Instagram video of himself dunking a ball.
“Those are things that maybe six weeks ago he couldn’t do. As much as they’re little steps, it’s still progress that he’s continuing to make,” said Donovan on Friday.
Donovan did temper expectations of Ball’s return by saying the guard still felt pain in the knee.
“Is there pain there? Yes, there’s still some discomfort there. But not at the level it was six weeks ago. I’m not trying to say what Lonzo’s pain is.
“But the question is does he have pain? Yes. Is it the same pain he was dealing with six weeks ago? No. How much better is it? It’s good enough that he can get on a treadmill and do some running and he can go jump and go dunk the ball,” added Donovan.
Ball last played an NBA game on January 14, 2022.
Donovan added that Ball will still need an adjustment period once he returns to the court.
“When you’re out a year, whenever he gets back to playing, I don’t think missing that much time is going to expect him to pick up right where he left off. There’s going to be an adjustment period, there’s no question.”