Coby White is slated to make his franchise debut against his former club on Tuesday night when the Charlotte Hornets visit the Chicago Bulls.
White spent 6 1/2 seasons with the Bulls before being traded to the Hornets on Feb. 4. He hasn’t played for Charlotte yet due to a left calf strain.
The seriousness of the injury was unearthed in a physical exam and tests performed as part of the trade.
“I’ve been dealing with calf stuff all year, and sometimes it would just get tight, and that’s all it was,” White told reporters at the mid-day shootaround in Chicago. “It had nothing to do with them. When the whole thing went down, everyone has their opinions, but the medical staff always had my best interest here. That’s just how it came down.
“If I would have never gotten an MRI, if I never would have gotten traded, I probably would have never said anything about it. Just because I thought it was just tightness. They didn’t know, and I didn’t know it was a calf strain. It was nobody’s fault.”
White said he hasn’t put much thought into playing against his former teammates.
“It’ll be good to see everybody, but I’ll deal with the emotions,” White said. “I’ll let it flow naturally. Whatever happens, happens.”
White was the seventh overall pick of the 2019 NBA Draft, averaging 15.4 points and making 1,057 3-pointers in 451 games (251 starts) for Chicago. He was averaging 18.6 points, 4.7 assists and 3.7 rebounds in 29 games (26 starts) this season.
White averaged a career-best 20.4 points in 74 games (73 starts) last season.
