Presented by Nationwide Insurance Agent Jeff Vukovich
Zach LaVine’s trying season reached a crescendo Saturday afternoon when the Chicago Bulls announced that the two-time All-Star guard will undergo season-ending foot surgery.
LaVine, who missed 17 games with the injury earlier this season before returning to play seven and then re-aggravating it after spraining his ankle, finishes the 2023-24 season with averages of 19.5 points and 3.9 assists, shooting below the elite percentages he posted the previous three seasons. He played in just 25 of the Bulls’ 49 games.
The Bulls said LaVine, the team’s medical and training staffs and his agency, Klutch Sports, sought additional medical opinions before deciding on surgery scheduled for next week. He will be sidelined four to six months.
The news deals a significant blow to the Bulls’ and LaVine’s desire to find him a new home in advance of Thursday’s NBA trade deadline. This foot surgery lands on top of LaVine recovering from a left ACL tear in 2017 and subsequent arthroscopic procedure on the same knee in 2022.
Here’s what LaVine said about the injury in early December, when he was first shut down.
“It bugs you, a boney, prominent area,” LaVine said then. “You really don’t want to start messing around with that, that fifth metatarsal area and it gets more and more irritated. It’s just smart to calm it down now to where I can get back to 100% and hopefully finish the season strong and help everybody out.”
Check back for updates on this developing story.
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from NBC Chicago https://ift.tt/waYVts4
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