Zach LaVine will miss the Bulls’ second game of the season

WASHINGTON D.C. – While all the discussion during the Bulls’ offseason had to do with the left knee of Lonzo Ball, all the talk early in the regular season is about the same knee for Zach LaVine.

That’s because it’s going to keep the starting guard out of the lineup for the second-straight game.

On Thursday afternoon, the Bulls announced that LaVine will miss the contest against the Wizards Friday night in Washington D.C. as he continues injury management in his left knee.

He also missed Wednesday night’s season opener against the Heat for the same reason after experiencing discomfort after a few intense, physical practices leading up to the regular season, per head coach Billy Donovan. LaVine’s status for the Bulls’ first home game of the 2022-2023 season against the Cavaliers on Saturday night is still unknown.

LaVine underwent surgery on his left knee in May to alleviate the pain that hindered him in the final months of last season. It was expected that the guard would return to full health for this upcoming season and it appeared that way when he took part in the first three preseason games.

He saw 17 minutes of action against the Pelicans on October 4th then played 24 minutes against the Nuggets (October 7th) and Raptors (October 9th) before sitting out the preseason finale against the Bucks on October 11th.

LaVine is getting ready to start his sixth season with the Bulls and his first on a new max five-year, $215 million contract. He’s been named an All-Star reserve each of the last two seasons and scored 24.4 points, grabbed 4.6 rebounds and dished out 4.5 assists per game in 2021-2022 in 67 contests.