MIAMI — It was a series of vague answers from Zach LaVine on Wednesday afternoon after he was ruled out for the season opener against Miami. His left knee situation is not only suddenly very cloudy, but somewhat concerning.
The days leading up to the tip-off against the Heat, the Bulls guard talked about how good he felt and how anxious he was to return to the player he was at the start of last year.
By the time the team’s morning shootaround ended, however, it was obvious that the guy that was earning max contract momentum last November wasn’t coming back anytime soon.
LaVine gave a cryptic explanation of why he won’t be playing.
“I just want to make sure I’m safe in bringing myself back in and managing it,’’ LaVine said. “It’s the way it is. Just for going forward, I want to make sure I’m 100% at the end of the season, too. So I think the best thing is just managing it and having the team support, me supporting myself in going out there and being the best I can.’’
When asked if there was a setback or flare up with the knee recently that somehow went into this “managing’’ schedule, LaVine denied that.
“I never said I felt a flare up,’’ LaVine said. “I think it’s just something we’re going to have to manage going forward. With the schedule, this is the determined course of action.
“I think we looked at the schedule and figured out what would be right for me, what would make me feel best, not just now but at the end of the season. It’s a long season, and there’s going to be some sunny days and there’s going to be some rainy days. I think if you just go forward with that mentality I’ll be alright.’’
What added to the confusion was a teammate saying he thought LaVine came out of a Friday practice with some soreness in the knee.
LaVine, however, stuck to his guns with this being a “determined course of action’’ based on managing the knee.
He said he hopes to play Friday against the Wizards.
Either way, what LaVine couldn’t answer was if this game-to-game will-he, won’t-he become his new normal?
“I don’t know,’’ LaVine said. “I wish I had a crystal ball to look into the future, I really do. It would be great if I could figure that out. I’ll look up some lottery-ticket numbers if I knew that.’’
