Chicago, IL – October 29, 2025 – As the Chicago Bulls ride high on a surprising 3-0 start to the 2025-26 NBA season, fans are left wondering one burning question: When will star guard Coby White lace up his sneakers and rejoin the fray? The answer, according to Bulls head coach Billy Donovan, boils down to a delicate dance between recovery and risk—one that prioritizes long-term health over short-term heroics.
White, the 25-year-old sharpshooter who averaged 19.1 points per game last season, has been sidelined since training camp with a nagging right calf injury. His absence hasn’t slowed down Chicago, though. The Bulls have stunned the league by knocking off three presumed playoff contenders—the Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, and Milwaukee Bucks—without their dynamic backcourt duo fully intact. But with White’s return seemingly imminent, Donovan dropped a candid update on Monday that explains the holdup.
Speaking to reporters after practice (via the Chicago Sun-Times), Donovan detailed the medical team’s cautious approach. “Just talking to the medical, here’s the problem: Like [White] doesn’t have any pain at all with what he’s doing,” the coach revealed. “He’s on the court shooting, he’s able to jog, but what ended up happening and what became a problem when we were playing competitively in practice were those stops, starts, quick explosiveness that maybe he’s not doing a lot of that in individual workout.”
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In essence, White is pain-free in low-intensity drills, but the explosive movements that define his game—sudden cuts, defensive slides, and off-the-dribble bursts—still trigger tightness in the calf. Donovan elaborated on the fine line they’re walking: “If he plants the wrong way or steps, that explosive step is what got him and then he felt the tightness again. You don’t want to take that to an extreme where you have him push through it and then he really misses a lot more time. It’s a real hard balancing act.”
This revelation comes at a pivotal moment for the Bulls, who entered the season with tempered expectations. Pundits pegged them as a play-in tournament team at best, burdened by front-office drama and questions about roster fit. Yet, here they are: one of just four undefeated squads in the NBA, alongside the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder in the West, and the Philadelphia 76ers as the Eastern Conference’s other perfect outlier. It’s a far cry from the preseason skepticism, and White’s eventual return could catapult them into legitimate contender status.
The Bulls announced on October 20 that White would be reevaluated in two weeks, putting his potential debut sometime in early November. That timeline means he’ll likely miss at least Chicago’s next three games—a road tilt against the Indiana Pacers, a home matchup with the Detroit Pistons, and a visit from the Atlanta Hawks. With 79 games still on the docket, there’s zero incentive to rush. As Donovan put it, the focus is on sustainability: “There are still 79 games left for White to play in, and pushing him back on the floor this early could do much more damage than anything.”
White’s importance to the Bulls can’t be overstated. Beyond his scoring punch, he’s the glue that elevates Zach LaVine and Nikola Vučević, providing spacing and secondary creation. Last season, he shot a blistering 37.8% from three, and his All-Star trajectory seemed all but assured before the injury struck. Teammates have stepped up in his stead—Josh Giddey has orchestrated the offense with poise, and Ayo Dosunmu has thrived as the starting point guard—but White’s full integration is the X-factor that could turn this hot start into something sustainable.
For now, the medical staff deserves credit for their prudence. In a league where soft-tissue injuries can derail seasons (just ask the Lakers’ Austin Reaves or the Warriors’ Gary Payton II from recent years), erring on the side of caution is the smart play. White himself has expressed frustration but understands the stakes, tweeting last week: “Grateful for the progress. Bulls nation, we’re building something special. See you soon.”
As Chicago prepares for another week of statement wins, all eyes remain on White’s rehab. When he does return—explosiveness intact and all—the Bulls won’t just be undefeated; they’ll be unstoppable. Stay tuned for updates as the reevaluation date approaches. In the meantime, this 3-0 squad is proving the doubters wrong, one gritty victory at a time.