Coby White was forced to leave Monday’s game vs. Minnesota due to a right calf injury and did not return, the Bulls announced (Twitter link via Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic). White hurt his calf in the first quarter.
As K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network notes (Twitter links), White missed the first 11 games of the season — and 15 overall — due to a right calf strain he sustained in August. The 25-year-old also missed a pair of games with a left calf injury.
White, a seventh-year guard, just played his first back-to-back games of 2025/26 on Friday and Saturday, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. The former No. 7 overall pick said he was still working to find his rhythm and improve his conditioning after Saturday’s loss.
“Just trusting my body and reacting to how I want to react,” White said. “I’m trying to get my legs underneath me as far as timing, decision-making. I’m trying to give myself some grace. I was really hard on myself [Friday against 76ers], where I felt like I couldn’t get my timing down. It’s leading to some turnovers that I feel like are unforced.
“Once I get my timing down and get my legs underneath me, I’ll be better.”
According to Cowley, while White and Chicago’s front office previously expressed mutual interest in resuming contract discussions in the offseason, the relationship between the two sides has “frayed a bit” with White’s name popping up in recent trade rumors ahead of unrestricted free agency.
We have more from Chicago:
- White wasn’t the only starting guard who exited Monday’s game early, as Josh Giddey sustained a left hamstring injury early in the third quarter and was ruled out for the remainder of the contest (Twitter link via Johnson). It’s unclear when the injury occurred, but Giddey quickly asked to be subbed out after dribbling the ball up the court (Twitter video link).
- While White and Giddey were injured during Monday’s game, big man Zach Collins was hurt sometime before tip-off. Head coach Billy Donovan said the 28-year-old center has a sprained big toe and will likely be out at least a week, though there is not yet an official timetable for Collins’ return, per Will Gottlieb of CHGO Bulls (Twitter link).
- Forward Patrick Williams has largely been out of the rotation of late with Donovan opting for a double-big bench unit featuring Collins and Jalen Smith. Williams admitted he wasn’t thrilled with the demotion, per Cowley, but he handled it professionally and said he would be ready Monday with Collins out. “For sure, 100%,” Williams said of taking advantage of the opportunity. “Obviously you don’t want guys to go down. We all love Zach and what he brings to the game. It’s definitely an opportunity for someone to step up and if he calls my number I’m ready.” The 24-year-old wound up playing 21 minutes in the blowout loss.
Please, blow it all up. It just doesn’t matter at this point. I get NBA trades are more difficult today. Then again, until there is a change in ownership/leadership it doesn’t matter what they do…ugh. I hate being a bulls fan.
What bothers me most is that the Bulls are aimless as an organization. It would be one thing if they were a perennial play-in team as the result of specific plans not working out because of injuries or team chemistry or any of the types of things that derail a team from seeing its plan succeed. But the Bulls are like a chef who just buys random stuff at the store and then throws stuff together in a meal that lacks any kind of vision. They’re a plate of food and not a menu item. You’re right- they’ll continue drifting aimlessly until they have a change in both ownership and front office, and just the fact the current front office still has their jobs after all this listless mediocrity, it shows that ownership is equally at fault and, apparently, satisfied with the state of things or just oblivious to how bad things are. It’s so frustrating being a fan of this team.
Bulls actually have a ton of high ground in trades this year and they themselves can make most trades work league wide quite easily
1) they can. take back more money ( a lot )
2) Have a bunch of expiring money (90mill ! )
3- Are willing to take on long term money ( very clean books )
I don’t have confidence they will flex this deadline but the possibility is certainly there
I think you’d be looking at teams who want to shed money for next years books
Orl Dallas Cle come straight to mind , I’m of mind it might be smart to start sone of the summer shopping now rather than wait . Those expirings could bring in some quality hand picked players for cheap as teams need to clean books leaguewide
Get Thibs to GM. At least he will build a winner. Only get someone else to manage the finances.
No thanks. Don’t need to recreate memories from 15 years ago when your halfway thru this decade in a few days.
BTW He was already at Team President at Minnesota, looked how that turned out.
Good thing we’re paying P.Will $18M to ride the bench
Coby needs to start eating some bananas.
With calf problems seeming to be a precursor to the fad in the NBA which is Achilles tears Bulls will regret keeping White for this year and not moving him at the draft because nobody will want him now. Maybe they should just keep him now and rest him until he’s totally healed. Bulls battled back to .500 when everyone was healthy and now 3 big pieces go down and they’ve lost 2 in a row. Without Giddey things will spiral down in a hurry. No Giddey, No Collins, No rebounds. Time to start moving guys before more injuries start because they will. Best procrastinating team in the NBA.
At this rate, Coby will be traded for a 2nd round pick, because teams will monitor his calf injury and will declare him damaged goods.
Robert Williams I’m looking at you my guy. Come on down!
That’s the attitude….. if you knew ball. You would believe 100% Coby will not be a problem to move.
Hilarious the world you live is in …
raz427
December 30, 2025
I’m f-in done with you. Rude ass MF with anger management issues
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We were done last month. You just can’t help it.
Trade Coby, jones and others for draft picks. They need to build better around Giddey and Matas. So if they can’t move Vuc and these other bench warmers..then they seriously need to let those guys walk in free agency. No more wasted talent on this team plz!!!!!