LeBron James reacts to former Lakers Lonzo Ball's epic comeback

Current Chicago Bulls point guard Lonzo Ball made a stunning return to the hardwood on Wednesday night.

After two and a half years and three knee operations, the 1.90 meter tall point guard was fit for the team's 125:123 win in the preseason against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

It was a small miracle. The 26-year-old recently underwent a rare cartilage transplant, which apparently finally took time.

In 15:07 minutes from Chicago's bench, the UCLA product scored 10 points on 4 of 6 shooting from the field (2 of 4 from beyond the arc), grabbed a rebound, dished out an assist, stole a ball, and blocked one shot and also achieved a plus-minus of +6.

Ball is playing in the final year of a four-season, $80 million contract he signed with Chicago as a free agent in 2021. In his final three seasons with the team, he only qualified for 35 regular season contests.

Ball was born in Anaheim and grew up in Chino Hills. He was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the No. 2 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, ahead of future All-Stars Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics (third pick), De' Aaron Fox of the Sacramento Kings (the fifth pick), Lauri Markkanen from the Utah Jazz (the seventh pick), Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen from the Cleveland Cavaliers (the No. 13 and 22 picks, respectively) and Bam Adebayo from the Miami Heat (the No. 14).

The former 3-and-D point guard (it's unclear how much momentum Ball will have on defense as he recovers from his knee injury) was an All-NBA Lakers forward for just one season, 2018-19 LeBron James before being included as a crucial part of the Lakers' trade with the New Orleans Pelicans for All-NBA center/power forward Anthony Davis.

James was clearly unhappy with the benefits of young players like Ball, Brandon Ingram (later the highest-paid All-Star with New Orleans) and Josh Hart, forcing LA to make the deal. It worked immediately and the Lakers won their only title the following year with James at the helm.

But that doesn't mean James doesn't feel affection for Ball or appreciate his efforts to return to the court since January 14, 2022. The 20-time All-Star took to his Instagram Stories, according to Ben Stinar of Sports Illustrated.

“So damn proud of you man!!! 🙏🏾🙏🏾🤎🤎🤎🤎🫡💪🏾,” James wrote.

The Lakers will face the Bulls for the first time this season on March 22 at Crypto.com Arena.

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