Before the Bulls' March 29 matchup with the Golden State Warriors, Coby White could think of only one game he'd missed in his basketball life.
"I didn't miss a high school game. I missed one college game. And that was it, my whole life," White said after the team's Friday morning shootaround.
But after waking up with neck "locked up" the day before that Warriors contest -- and experiencing increased tightness as time passed -- White was forced to miss the first and second games of his NBA career with what has been officially termed left cervical pain. His 109 straight appearances to that point made him the only Bull to appear in all of the team's games since the start of the 2019-20 season.
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"I take pride in playing games. If I'm able to play, I play. This is what I love to do. So when I'm not doing it, I wish I was doing it," White said. "It was hard sitting out... I feel like if you can play and majority be yourself and you don’t play, you’re cheating the game to a certain extent."
White isn't out of the woods yet. He remains listed as questionable on the Bulls' injury report for Friday's game at the Utah Jazz, and said after shootaround that, while the injury is progressing every day, he and the Bulls' medical staff need to see how it feels closer to tipoff time before reaching a final decision.
"I'm following the trainers," he said. "I'm kind of stubborn at heart, so if I got a chance to play, I'm going to play. But I'm starting to grow up a little bit more, so I'm listening to my trainers a lot more.
"I'm not really rushing. Seeing how it feels day to day. Tonight, if I feel pretty good, I'm going to play. If it doesn't, keep resting and get treatment on it."
NBA
Zach LaVine (right ankle sprain) is also questionable for the Jazz game, while Garrett Temple (right hamstring strain) is out.