What does Coby White’s injury mean for his NBA career?
Chicago and all Bulls fans were aghast when their star combo guard was injured mysteriously in “basketball activities away from the team.” Why not say what Coby was doing and where when tearing his left shoulder labrum. He was reportedly in Chapel Hill that week scrimmaging with fellow former and current Tar Heels.
The surgery that followed put White out for at least four months or well into training camp for next season. So what did the Bulls do as soon as free agency began, but complete a sign-and-trade for erratic point guard Lonzo Ball and also signed another guard Alex Caruso for a total of $122 million.
The Bulls haven’t been to the playoffs in five years, and it was clear the team wasn’t waiting for White to recover from what can be a pretty serious injury, career threatening or perhaps career ending.
White started one game but played in 65 during his All-Rookie year of 2019-20. The past season, he started in 54 of the 69 games he appeared in, and continued his consistent career stats of 14-plus points a game, shooting 35-plus percent from 3-point range and having an assist-to-turnover ratio of nearly 2-1.
Coby has had 10-plus assists 40 times in his pro career while the rest of the Bulls combined for 27 such games over the last two years. But the franchise, still spoiled by the Jordan era and their fans going nuts, spent $85 million on Ball from the notorious LA family who has never played a full season in his four NBA years due to injuries.
Even if White recovers completely, he will never get his 31 minutes per game back and will share the point with Ball and shooting guard with Caruso, Zach LaVine and others. Somehow, rumors persisted Coby was trade bait before his injury, and who would gamble on him now?
The Bulls regular season was over and they aren’t saying anything except White got hurt while doing something basketball related and out of their facility. It’s tragic for such a durable, popular player.
Hopefully, Coby will land on his feet with two good shoulders somewhere else and continue his journey to stardom.
Photo via AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast.
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