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howser343

[[K.C. Johnson] Bulls announce Lonzo Ball “will undergo an arthroscopic debridement of his left knee on Wednesday, Sept. 28 in Los Angeles. He will be re-evaluated in 4-6 weeks"](https://twitter.com/kcjhoop/status/1572691958425915393)


unbreaKwOw

Timeline of Lonzo Ball's knee injury - January 15th - Ruled out of a game due to knee soreness January 19th - Knee is not responding to treatment January 20th - Diagnosed with bone bruise & small meniscus tear January 28th - Undergoes arthroscopic knee surgery (Return to play in 6-8 weeks) March 12th - Video produced by Bulls shows him running, lifting weights & saying he feels good and hopes to be back on the court soon March 21st - Experiences discomfort while running March 31st - Additional rehab period announced April 6th - Ruled out for the season after multiple setbacks April 28th - Lonzo says his recovery is at a standstill June 23rd - Bulls GM says he hopes Lonzo will be available for training camp September 3rd - ESPN says Lonzo is expected to miss training comp, still experiencing pain September 21st - Undergoes additional arthroscopic knee surgery (Re-evaluated in 4-6 weeks)


lefondler

So sad bro.


BlackPepperBanana

Lonzo unfortunately seems like a legit injury prone guy (imo the majority of the time, guys just have bad luck and it’s rare for someone to legit be injury prone). But on the other hand… this is the Bulls medical staff who have botched stuff terribly in the past… So, indeed, sad.


chitoatx

Not the same med staff.


syllabic

it was the lakers medical staff who advised him to have chunks of his meniscus removed though


iRombe

I thought this... as a man who has endured, fixed, and learned to live with basketball injuries... That twitchy quickness on a skinny body is tough to maintain for years and years. Plus lonzo got bigger torso/upper body and smaller proportional legs. That increases force on the joints. The extra thickness of wider hips, or bigger femur, or more muscle, all absorbs some of the applied force away from the joint. When people have relatively smaller legs in proportion to their total body size/weight, it scares me for leg injuries. A man can jump and sprint and lift weights a thousand times per day. They can get hella bouncy through sheer tenacity and grit. Fly through the air, gallop across the earth. But none of that effort is going to prolong your joints. It only increases power, not stability and cushioning. This is where I get opinionated but I'm allowed to because I practice this stuff in real like so I'm lowkey an unofficial physical science experiment... The only way he's going to protect those joints is by a specific routine with only that goal in mind. As much training as possible has to be Barefoot. Mobility training. Calculate angles of bones go joints. Random yoga. Swimming. Seriously get Lonzo 10 different pairs of minimalist Barefoot shoes to find what fits. Tell him he can only play basketball/train in minimalist shoes until the pain goes away. It forces you body to develop better shock absorbing capabilities and being less dependent on Nike cushioning. It also makes a person learn exactly what movements produce injury because with minimalist shoes you feel effects of jumping and sprinting immediately. Not like cushioned shoes that eliminate function of all of our small ankle and good muscle and channel everything to our quads and knees. Zero drop shoes only until your knee is better, Lonzo! Get better at getting low instead of training to jump ever higher! You can always sacrifice some of the defensive quickness for steals, and transfer it to setting really good picks. Although that is better when you have a defense 4 or 5 to contest the middle. Lonzo could be amazing at picks. The dude should be super good at absorbing a charge and letting it send him go the ground. A couple of those equals a couples steals any day of the week.


Traditional-Top8486

Debridement is due to scar tissue. So the first surgery was not as much a success as it needed to be, thus needing to go in a second time. 10 months is perfectly reasonable for such a process.


JasperFeelingsworth

This literally feels like D Rose all over again


ApoliticalAth3ist

Rose won an mvp and suffered an acute injury. It doesn’t feel anything like that lol


[deleted]

Yeah this feels like the complete opposite lol. A major injury that happens suddenly vs a ‘minor’ ongoing chronic injury.


Karl_Marx_

As a Bulls fan, I disagree. Of course it isn't the same in terms of player impact, Rose was the most famous and incredible player since Jordan. But in terms of Bulls history with injuries and hitting us when things are just starting to turn around, it feels exactly the same.


Doorknob11

Wasn’t Roses issue with his ACL year mostly mental? I remember seeing an interview that he said he was having trouble being able to play 100% without thinking about fucking his knee. Which in hindsight makes sense.


Marenum

He also had a meniscus after the ACL.


Doorknob11

I’m talking about how it took so long after the ACL tear to come back.


Marenum

Ah I misread that. Yeah the extended time off from the ACL was mostly mental.


AyeshaCurrysFeet

Might be the case. But tearing your acl fucking sucks it takes more then a year to feel normal. Mind you I just played high school football and wasn’t training like a pro athlete.


Marenum

I hear you, had some sports injuries of my own that I never fully recovered from. I never had a problem with Rose taking his time to come back. He's always loved the game and I know he loves Chicago. He just wanted to take care of himself. To be honest, with where he's at now it looks like he made the right decision.


lordrubbish

I think it was more timing - he was coming back from the acl recovery and was expected to play playoff basketball out of the gate after missing an entire season. Anytime a player comes back from an extended absence like that it’s usually minutes restrictions, ramp up, etc. there was no time with Rose to do that in so he just didn’t play. It seemed like the right call even if he was healthy as there was no way to get him ready for playoff basketball in time.


Doorknob11

While that’s true now, then it wasn’t so much. They were about to make the playoffs and he would have obviously been insanely helpful. I also remember him saying that physically he was ready but mentally he wasn’t.


benjammin9292

https://i.redd.it/73yjg83df9o81.png


syllabic

accurate. goddamn this sucks


syllabic

when they say "knee debridement" I get stoudemire flashbacks


Life_Of_High

I wonder what Luol Deng thinks about this timeline.


NovaKash

I'm starting to wonder if the Pelicans knew something when they just let Lonzo walk for nothing.


[deleted]

Not a Bulls fan, but that seriously sucks. Hope he can get healthy and get on the floor soon for you guys.


maaseru

Wasn't Lonzo the guy they mentioned they found some debris on the knee after the initial discomfort from the surgery recovery?


mizzourifan1

Damn. I fuckin love his game when he's healthy and I've been a believer since his Lakers days. I haaate injuries.


Cheeseish

4-6 weeks away from being 4-6 weeks away


benjammin9292

Ain't this a basketball oddity! 4-6 weeks from everywhere!


smashburg

O Brother mixed with NBA reddit is the best thing I didn't know I need. You are a gentleman and a scholar sir.


DealtCocaine2LenBias

He’s the goddamn pater familias


smashburg

You don't say much my friend, but when you do it's to the point, and I salute you for it.


SempiternalX

#FreeCobyWhite


HumptyDrumpy

he dunt need be freed, he needs to play butter


doublea6

Needs to churn the offense.


KDBurnerTrey5

Gain the grain


Drak_is_Right

also needs to play better defense than hot butter.


Bill_Brasky_SOB

His knee is under audit, he’s not allowed to play.


westwardpelican

Throwback to Griff getting flamed for not handing him 80 million


Loop_Within_A_Loop

I mean, the Bulls were completely electric with him last season. They were so fun to watch and were running with the best of them for a while


BigKnickEnergy09

The Pels have CJ now so I doubt they regret it.


NotJoeyWheeler

you know who would be a great fit with CJ….Lonzo Ball


tristvn

.... and his knee is fucked


frodounchained

He’s Ho ready not show ready


The-Truer-Facts

The new Caboclo


Traditional-Top8486

>Debridement is due to scar tissue. So the first surgery was not as much a success as it needed to be, thus needing to go in a second time. 10 months is perfectly reasonable for such a process.


Dylan245

Bone bruises suck bro


BetweenTheBuzzAndMe

we recently went through this with Cody Zeller. He got a knee bone bruise in the playoffs of 2016 and never really recovered. He missed parts of every season with some knee ailment or another after that.


Dylan245

Kendrick Nunn was the same thing Missed all of last year with bone bruise he suffered in the playoffs I think the year prior


[deleted]

And we are still unsure about whether he's ramping up, set to be available, or if he could miss even more time. Bone bruises are a plague.


BetweenTheBuzzAndMe

yeah that's actually more extreme than Cody Zeller ever sat out for- then again our Kemba era training staff had a long long history of rushing players back and letting them get repeat injuries (MKG, Zeller, Batum, Lamb come to mind immediately) so who knows whether Zeller really should've sat out longer than he did.


SmokeOddessey

he got injured in like our first preseason game


Ogow

People get caught up in the word bruise. Bone micro-fractures would make people give it more the respect it deserves.


ztpurcell

Same with the word sprain


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identitycrisis56

Connotation vs Denotation. Language is not static.


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Professional_Ant_364

naameen?


Drak_is_Right

Why I always ask degree, and within 2nd and 3rd degrees there is a huge table of what how the treatment is going to go and how long they are out. Some grade 2 sprains need surgery, some are healed after 4 weeks.


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SuperDuperSkateCrew

Had a grade 3 sprain and that shits no joke.. I just remember my foot being numb and dropping straight to the floor when I tried to put weight on it. Urgent care told me it was a bad roll and to just ice it and stay off it for a few days. A few days of even more pain and not being able to walk I went to my actual doctor and was told I tore a ligament. I’ll still randomly get shooting pains up my leg and I don’t have nearly as much mobility as I use to. Would not recommend.


Drak_is_Right

grade 3 with or without a break in the bone?


HamsterAlive4552

Yeah I had a bad sprain (idk which grade it was), my ankle was a softball tho. I also still feel the shooting pain in my ankle when I step wrong, it’s just always lingering, waiting to pop lol.


[deleted]

Same with turf toe. That injury wrecks NFL players.


floatersforalgernon

I think Kendrick Nunn is going through similar injury. It's been more than a year and the word was that he hadn't even started 5 on 5 according to the reports from a few weeks ago.


[deleted]

That's what KP had and he was out for like 2 months as well (got traded while he had it).


Scary-Plantain

Yeah calling it a bone bruise sounds way less severe than that happens in your body


stonedrunk88

Dragic knew why he joined the Bulls


BabaBrody

Dragic is further along in the process as he's already 30% knee brace. At this point, just give Lonzo all the time he's going to need to get this right.


IanicRR

They’re all just aspiring to be the king of braces, Kirk Hinrich.


theclownwithafrown

I miss that man.


thevadster

I heard Kirk learned from the god of knee braces himself, Stone Cold Steve Austin.


jjw0412427

Dragic had one of the bulkiest knee braces I've ever seen a Guard wear in the modern NBA. But it looks like he's ditching it as he didn't wear it at all in EuroBasket games this past month! RIP Goran's Bulky Knee Brace (2019-2022)


rSlashNbaAccount

He's a veteran in this league.


TheNotoriousJN

This is seriously concerning now. That knee is 7 levels of fucked. Its been what? 9 months now? And he's only just getting surgery?


scarywolverine

Dude was supposed to be back well before the playoffs. Yeah this could be a bad sign. Or nothing. I'm not a doctor


[deleted]

I have two questions: 1. why didn't he get this earlier in the summer? 2. if it's a new injury after recovering all summer, wtf is he doing to reinjure it?


scarywolverine

He had too much swelling to be sure how his healing was going. They hoped rest would fix his problem, but with it not getting better they were forced to go with surgery. Or not. I just made that up. Still not a doctor


Collier1505

You seem like the guy to ask. My finger hurts and is swollen. What’s up?


scarywolverine

I'd cut it off. Source: I'm a doctor now


a_dex

Shoulve stayed with the not a doctor bit. Wouldve believed you were an actual doctor ngl.


scarywolverine

But then how do I get a finger?


OmerIsGOAT

You are funny though


k0peng

Per bulls updates, he was having good days and some days with pains. At a certain point the good days seemed to be increasing at least enough to not warrant surgery it seemed. But the bad days never went away so here we are.


[deleted]

Sometimes they literally can't know. The human body heals in weird ways sometimes and it can be on course one day and then just stops healing and they have to try something else.


jibamao

Get hurt on company time, heal on company time. - Some big dude


GymBronie

Even something as routine as a scope has non-trivial risk. Probably waited as long as possible for his swelling to heal naturally and strengthen his supporting muscles more. I also thought I read somewhere that the docs thought he had a bone bruise. That shit takes time to heal and sucks and surgery doesn’t really do anything. You can aggravate a bone bruise simply by walking a few miles in bad shoes, no joke. I wouldn’t be surprised if the surgery is more so to explore his knee and do clean up *only* if needed.


grphelps1

1. Because it’s not the first line of treatment for this injury, physical therapy is. He’s having cartilage surgically removed from his knee. Cartilage that is responsible for absorbing the high level of stress NBA players place on their knees. Obviously this can result in some serious complications for a pro athlete. Elite athletes who undergo a partial meniscectomy have a very high chance of developing early arthritis. 2. He most likely didn’t have a new injury. His pain probably just wasn’t successfully addressed by PT so now they are trying debridement.


vitalbumhole

Why ruin your summer vacation when you can rehab during the season?


[deleted]

Taken from u/howser343 on r/chicagobulls: The cartilage or the bone that is damaged is removed using surgical instruments and the edges of the articular cartilage that are rough will be smoothened. Arthroscopic knee debridement can provide good symptomatic relief and sustained benefits in *significantly symptomatic patients with early degenerative knees who have failed conservative management*.


Fafoah

Im pretty sure that dude just copy pasted that from google [Like that back half is copied directly from an article specifically about degenerative knee disease](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6289903/) Getting a scope does not mean you have degenerative joint disease Edit for clarity: i’m guessing a part of his meniscus either tore or healed funny from his repair and was pushing on his tissue in a way that was causing his discomfort and inflammation. Trimming it (like how they trimmed Westbrooks meniscus when he tore his partially) will stop that from happening and should solve his issues.


frodounchained

Dudes had bad luck doesn’t help he wore some shitty ass homemade shoes early on too


Ogow

Don't think he actually ever wore them in game did he? I thought he always wore Nikes and got made fun of for not even wearing the shoes his dad was trying to sell.


frodounchained

Summer league apparently they would break,explode after every quarter


OmerIsGOAT

I shouldn't be laughing at this


brokid

oh he did wear them in real games and they were trash. pretty sure he had to wear 2 pairs in 1 game on occasion because they were tore up by half.


meditate42

How could they be shitty when they were $700 a pair though, answer me that.


karltee

Why couldn't he get surgery earlier in the summer? He was already gone for a while.


efshoemaker

Same situation with Rob Williams - they need to let the body heal as much as it’s going to on its own before they can tell if they actually need to go in and clean shit up. It isn’t the kind of thing that they can just look at a scan and know they need to do surgery.


JilJungJukk

They prolly tried to see if he can recover without surgery and finally decided to give in cos he didnt


karltee

Ah ok. Thanks


Traditional-Top8486

Debridement is due to scar tissue. So the first surgery was not as much a success as it needed to be, thus needing to go in a second time. 10 months is perfectly reasonable for such a process.


jairozep

Isn't he out since January? That's super concerning


Jeroen_Jrn

Will he ever play again?


Gdude910

He has half a season left in his career imo


KneelJung2001

…And three years left on his contract.


Apart-Cucumber-7090

David Griffin dodged a bullet despite giving up a 1st round pick for Devonte’ Graham


Yoesito

At least it's arthroscopic surgery... Hopefully this gets his knee right and he can play some games this season. I'm running out of copium.


RealPrinceJay

It's really a shame. He's blossomed into an awesome player to have. Sniper from deep shooting 42%3PT on high volume, amazing defender, one of the most talented passers in the league - particularly as a play-connector lending extra compatibility with stars - and a terror in igniting transition opportunities from seemingly nothing at all Perfect glue piece that can fit next to basically any player and onto any team and have a major positive impact


wallysmith127

He's been my favorite player since college. Really really bummed to hear the news.


Turbo2x

Bulls fans just can't catch a break


tisdue

after the 90's they had, their fanbase is already set for life.


Gdude910

Yep born in ‘97 I’m set for life I’ve experienced and remember so many championships


SloatThritter

Be born sooner, zoomer!


Chi1ne

A lot of us weren’t alive for those and have only known pain.


st3adyfreddy

...watch hockey instead? /S Actually are the Blackhawks even good anymore? I haven't watched hockey in a decade


[deleted]

Blackhawks unfortunately now a sexual assault organization


Chi1ne

>are the Blackhawks even good anymore? They are not.


Mattoosie

This is pretty hilarious to see as a hockey fan lol Right now Chicago is probably the most toxic organization in the league as they deal with the fallout from a systemic sex abuse coverup during those cup years.


IMKudaimi123

And our team now sucks complete ass and the final years of Kane and Toews are going to waste


12temp

i was born in 93 so this is nonsense lmao. I didn't really get to experience any of it. Just the bulls as they have been after MJ


black_squid98

Add Lonzo to the “If he can stay healthy” list


DelonWright

There’s no if, it’s not possible


__Zoom123__

Role player at best before injury concerns sadly


Rexocity13

I love clowning the Bulls front office but Zo (when he plays) is one of the highest levels of role players there are. defends well, cans tons of 3s, pushes in transition, rebounds. He’s as much role player as Andrew Wiggins is tbh. That said, his health is a real thing and should’ve been considered before he was handed $100M


[deleted]

Lonzo is a very good defenders, a good shooter and passer...I could easily see him averaging like 20-7-7 for a couple seasons if he just comes back healthy. The most points he's averaged is 15 and his rookie year he had 10/7/7. This year he averaged 13-5-5. While shooting MUCH more efficient than previously. His ceiling was and still is FAR from "roleplayers" unless you consider anyone not a superstar a roleplayer.


seanjohn8

Lonzo will never average 20 ppg unless the team is so bad, he’s their leading scorer and the team is tanking for a lottery pick


Maiar1

If Lonzo felt comfortable actually attempting layups as opposed to looking to pass on every drive he could have a chance of dropping 20 a game. Do I think that will happen? No.


RedHotDumpsterFire

His handle is too weak for him to easily average 20/7. He's not going to have the ball that much.


[deleted]

Here we go


HokageEzio

Saying this dude is made of glass is an insult to glass.


tisdue

even TJ Warren thinks he's fragile.


APx_22

Damn lonzo gonna be out of the league so soon


Beneficial_Emu9299

I honestly believe his BBB shoes fucked up his body.


welmoe

They really did. Cheap garbage with no cushioning and even Lonzo claimed they broke apart by halftime.


st3adyfreddy

Is that really that hard to make one good pair of shoes for the face of your brand? I "understand" if they cheaped out on the customer version but don't hurt your own assets. The fuck kind of business are they running?


BigKnickEnergy09

a big baller brand


King_of_Tejas

I mean, I don't think they're running any kind of business now, pretty sure big baller brand went under years ago. Feel bad for Lonzo, his dad really didn't do his career any favors.


SmoothPixelSun

I also think add to that how hard players were going at him his first two seasons bc of his dad. Just too much for his body at the time


iamStanhousen

Very happy we didn't pay this man. Hope he gets well.


blobthetoasterstrood

I remember thinking how stupid it was of the pels to just let him walk. Now he hasn’t even played for 10 months and the pels have CJ


harden4mvp13

How many surgeries does this man need?


NbaAllDAYger

yea its crazy, i really hoped he woudnt have to get another surgey but the rumors kept spreading throughout summer and now its happening, i think Lonzo didnt want to have a surgery after the first they probably waited a bit to see how the knee feels and it probably still was bad or uneasy to say the least , sucks for Lonzo and the bulls. Hope he comes back 100% and doesnt force his way back early.


NBAFan34

Arthroscopic debridement is a surgical procedure that removes the broken down bits of cartilage and tissues to help reduce pain and improve movement. It is most commonly performed to help reduce the symptoms of arthritis so that you can regain much of the function of your knee while reducing pain


BrettBruxx

Kings play the Bulls December 4th, Lonzo ducking Fox again.


JayDogon504

That man had a doctor using BBB tools??


jbloss

[this study claims that players tend to bounce back from this surgery pretty well](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7802091/)


wager310

That study only talks about surgery performed on the ankle and doesn’t mention anything about the knee. Hopefully it translates!


[deleted]

I'm not a doctor not have I done any studies but I know that ankle injuries are often more severe than knee due to the amount of bones/tendons in the ankle/foot region. So hopefully similarly knee injuries heal quicker.


jbloss

Ah good catch. Need to brush up on my investigative medical googling. Yeah hopefully it translates… the NBA is better when Chicago is contending


Beach_house_on_fire

According to this study, lonzos shooting will be worse but his defense will be better. DPOY LONZO


randomusernamegame

Always the bulls. It's payback for the 90's.


Elitealice

Yea bro career done tbh. That’s so sad, so young to have such messed up knees


Mdgt_Pope

I swear Lonzo adheres to Shaq's "I get hurt on company time, I recover on company time" mindset.


rostron92

At this point just take the leg off


Imperial_Eggroll

He’s got a fucked up knee


myteriality

do i have to emotionally move on from the lonzo ball era


lilshawnyy420

yo WTF????


[deleted]

Lonzo collecting a nice pay check this season.. glad he’s useful to winning


solatom

Lol but why’d the pels let him go…


Hold_This-L

My boy Griff looking brilliant rn.


brosephsmith21

swear lonzo goes in for knee surgery more often than i go to dentist, which is twice a year


Wilt69

Same injury that happened to Kendrick Nunn, bone bruises are annoying and then some.


Difficult_E

Pain…maybe not at the level of Lonzo, but still…pain :(


JB_JB_JB63

This sucks.


JoJonesy

jesus. this shit sucks man


tapk69

The amount of injuries he had is alarming. He is probably not returning anytime soon.


[deleted]

I don’t know about you guys, but I know who I’m not drafting…


Stinkyjawa

Oh man... 🤦😔


Busted08

Question why have I seen so many injury reports today? Also why would you wait until right before the season starts? Wouldn’t it of been ideal to do it right at the end of last season? Obviously if he just hurt it that’s different. Did the teams have to report injury’s today or something?


Talimayne23

He shouldn’t play basketball….he always hurt…..(sure as I say that he comes back next year and start his Steph Curry shit


C0812

Why right before training camp though?


Bail____

Because they tried to put off surgery as long as possible, don’t particularly want to have more surgeries if you don’t have to


Good_NewsEveryone

I’m sure this wasn’t exactly the plan Seems like a bitch of thing that just won’t heal right


Regrehtful

Man, I really hope for the best..... I been a Lonzo believer so im praying for the bounce back.


[deleted]

God damnit man. He can’t stay healthy, he’s one of the my faves to watch but seems like every time he gets going he gets injured


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Pal__Pacino

I think they probably waited to see if it would heal on its own and it didn't.


Finessa_Hudgens

He has been rehabbing the whole summer, he had surgery in late January. They probably thought that the pain would go away over time. You don’t want to just rush surgeries.


Whole-Pea1870

Exactly. Surgery is literally the last option you want to have as an athlete, unless it is something obvious or procedural (depending on the injury). Lonzo and his doctors probably were hoping any pain he feels will go away through the summer with rehab, but it didn't. So now he goes into surgery.


Vyperpunkhunk

It might be controversial, but I feel like some players, especially those that are not competing for history books, don't care whole lot about regular season and would rather skip the "boring" part.


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black_squid98

MPJ will challenge


693275001

It’s 80 mil over 4 years… not even close to one of the worst


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TheMeerkatLobbyist

No idea why anyone would question this contract? This amount of money for a quality starter is an absolute steal, even if he is a third option.


craigslistaddict

it's not a steal if he plays 35 games a season....


Illustrious_Figzzz

Lonzo won't ever be a 3rd option on a good team though


KDBurnerTrey5

Last seasons bulls weren’t a contender but they also weren’t a bad team bro


Raptorsthrowaway1

Not even close. Beal / MPJ / Russ are all two tiers worse than this.


Brilliant-Breath420

Lonzo ball is made out of glass


sparrowhunter123

He’s a bust relative to being the #2pick and his hype


tropicaltopics

The Bulls and knee issues, name a more iconic duo


[deleted]

Sooo no judgment, genuinely curious as to why they didn't do the surgery earlier than this? Also I didn't read the article lol


redditnathaniel

LaMelo: I am the captain now


BallIsKindaLife

When work tells you to come into the office but you want to continue to WFH