Coby White is trying to keep a positive face.
It’s been tested a lot lately, but the Bulls guard insisted on Friday that he’s winning the inner battle.
“It’s very frustrating just because you think you’re past something, and then it hops back up again,” White said.
And too often this season it feels like it won’t hop off.
White’s calf issues began in August when he strained the right one and was set back for months. After missing all of training camp and the first 11 regular-season games, he finally made his debut on Nov. 16 – minutes restrictions and all – but within two weeks, tightness in his left calf flared up.
A two-game shutdown was the result, and of course more restrictions, but he started to feel normal again last week, even playing in his first back-to-back.
Those good feelings came to an abrupt stop on Monday, however.
In the first half against the Timberwolves, White felt an all too familiar tightness back in the right calf.
“It just got tight and it was persistent,” White said. “It started to loosen up a little bit, so I tried to test it out and get it moving again. But it was still a little persistent, so they were like, ‘Shut it down.’ I got an MRI and it showed that it wasn’t a re-strain. The MRI actually looked better than it did in November, so it’s about just getting it to calm down. It was like a warning shot to get us to make it calm down.”
Shot heard as White was back to rehabbing, hoping to be re-evaluated on Monday and a timetable offered up.
Where it gets even more complicated, however, is what’s at stake for the guard. He’s an unrestricted free agent, has been the subject of trade talks, and has only played in 16 of the 34 games this season. His health could not only help determine his pay day but allows the Bulls to try and maximize his value if they do end up trading him.
Not an ideal situation for either side.
“You could sit here and say, ‘Why me?’ Then you look around the league and there’s guys in worse situations than me in terms of they come back, re-strain it, and then they got to sit out even more time,” White said of his mentality. “You got a keep a positive perspective that you’re not the only one in the world going through what you’re going through. It’s frustrating because I do want to be out there, and I don’t feel as well, like as a person and mentally when I’m not playing. It’s hard for me to go through this, but I’m spiritual so I look at it as God is trying to teach me something through this and maybe I’ll figure it out at the end of it.”
Twin City connection
The Jones boys are no stranger to facing off against each other, as Tre and older brother Tyus were matched up multiple minutes on Friday with the Magic in town, but the two Apple Valley High School standouts weren’t the only players from Minneapolis on the floor.
Magic guard Jalen Suggs was a standout at Minnehaha Academy and Minnesota Mr. Basketball in 2020. Tyus Jones was the state’s Mr. Basketball in 2014, while Tre won the honor in 2018.
Rotation tweaks
Bulls coach Billy Donovan said the rotation would be a work in progress, based on matchups more than a set rotation for his undermanned roster.
That was on display just from the Wednesday night game, as Donovan didn’t even play Julian Phillips because of the physicality of New Orleans’ frontcourt. With Orlando’s reserves more on the athletic side, Donovan turned to Phillips over Jevon Carter.