Late into the 2021-22 campaign, the Bulls guard was entering his first offseason as being an unrestricted free agent with a huge payday awaiting, but also finally being on a team that was playoff bound for the first time in his eight-year career.
All the while, his injured left knee was betraying him on a daily basis.
His choice was to play through it, publicly downplay the severity even at the cost of performance, and deal with the consequences.
“Me at 80%, 70%, whatever it is, I’m still one of the best players in the NBA and damn sure one of the best players on the court when we play,’’ LaVine insisted last March.