Bulls guard Zach LaVine has been diagnosed with a small ligament tear in the thumb of his non-shooting hand, sources Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
However, according to Charania, LaVine isn’t expected to miss any time due to the injury. His plan is to play through it, since it’s a matter of pain tolerance and he wants to help keep the Bulls’ positive momentum going following their 4-0 start.
LaVine is fortunate that the injury affects his left hand rather than his right, since it would be more difficult to play through a ligament tear in his shooting thumb. Lakers guard Talen Horton-Tucker underwent surgery to address a similar injury to his right thumb earlier this month and was ruled out for at least four weeks.
Through four games (33.8 MPG), LaVine is off to a strong start in his bid for a second consecutive All-Star nod, averaging 25.5 PPG, 5.3 RPG and 4.8 APG with a scorching-hot .500/.444/.952 shooting line.
While Chicago’s undefeated start to the season is impressive, the team’s four victories came against Detroit, New Orleans and Toronto, with Cade Cunningham, Zion Williamson and Pascal Siakam on the shelf. The Bulls will face more significant tests starting this week — they face New York on Thursday and Utah on Saturday, with contests vs. Boston, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Golden State and both L.A. teams to follow.
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