Ayo Dosunmu was taking suggestions for hobbies.
It made sense because the Bulls guard was about to have a lot of free time on his hands.
The Bulls announced on Sunday that Dosunmu would have season-ending left shoulder surgery, and on Tuesday they announced when.
It will come on Wednesday.
That’s why Dosunmu addressed the media, closing the books on his 2024-25 campaign.
“Just taking it one day at a time, one day at a time to get better, but also using this time away from the game, not being able to be out there, to just find different hobbies I would say,” Dosunmu said. “Get connected to the Lord more, read more books. Just find different things to do because you got so much time on my hands. Rather than just look at it in a bad way, try and find light in the situation. So I’m excited about that. Praying a lot to just come back stronger.”
The former Morgan Park standout still couldn’t pinpoint when the injury occurred, but did explain it with more detail.
The guess from medical was he suffered a fracture in the back of his shoulder at some point last year, and the shoulder was popping out with more frequency. Dosunmu admitted that he could have tried to play the rest of the season, but the concern was the shoulder would keep acting up and it would also put his recovery time in jeopardy with the start of next training camp.
The recovery time is four-to-six months of rehabilitation before he can go all out in five-on-five. By getting the surgery now, the worst-case scenario had him back on the court by August.
“There was pain pretty much any movement with my left hand,” Dosunmu said. “When I was sleeping it was pain. It was tolerable pain but pain that had to be addressed. In talking to the doctors, over time eventually I would have to have this surgery, so I technically could have played through the season, but it would have been a tick for tack thing. It would go in and out, in and out. You never knew when the shoulder was going to pop out, so I thought it was the best to fix it.”
Where it gets interesting for Dosunmu and the organization is he will enter next season in the final year of his current contract. While that would add anxiety to the situation for most, Dosunmu said he wasn’t wired like that.
“I thrive in situations like that,” Dosunmu said of the timing. “I thrive in adversity, proving people wrong wherever the doubters may be. That’s something I always thrived in, always seemed to enjoy that type of competition. I’m excited for the rehab process, like I said taking it one day at a time. Just looking at it as a blessing in disguise.”
Redemption?
Dalen Terry was given the starting nod against the Pacers on Sunday, but it didn’t exactly go well, as he was pulled after six minutes and did not start the second half.
Once again short-handed against the Cavs, coach Billy Donovan went right back to the former first-round pick, starting him over options like Jevon Carter, Julian Phillips and Talen Horton-Tucker.
“It’s playing with fewer mistakes,” Donovan said, when asked what Terry needed to work on. “It’s a lot of the younger guys. There’s times those guys play pretty well but what you’ve got to do night in and night out is control the things you can control.”
Florida return?
Nikola Vucevic missed his fifth straight game with that sore calf, but according to Donovan he was progressing with on the court activity and could return during the two-city trip to Florida.