CHICAGO — Coby White buoyantly paced to a distant court at the Advocate Center Thursday. No limp. No apparent discomfort. Just his perpetually goofy smile and a bob in his step, despite the brace hugging his calf.
All were healthy signs of his upcoming reintegration into the Chicago Bulls’ lineup.
The sixth-year guard, who’s yet to debut this season for the 6-1 Bulls while recovering from a right calf strain, highlighted an upcoming three-game road trip that kicks off in Utah on Nov. 16, followed by Denver the next night and Portland a couple days later, as “what I’ve been told” for a potential return to game action.
In coach Billy Donovan’s and White’s words, the 6-foot-5 guard should resume practicing next week, though the Bulls’ tight schedule — four games in six days, beginning with Friday’s road game against the Milwaukee Bucks — impacts how frequently White can take the court with his teammates.
Donovan circled the team’s three off days after a Nov. 12 road game against the Detroit Pistons as the span White hopes to rejoin full-contact practices. He’s already playing 2-on-2 and 3-on-3 with the player development staff and certain Bulls teammates.
Coby White doing some on-court stuff with trainer Matt Voss. pic.twitter.com/iz84hTuxVm
— Joel Lorenzi (@JoelXLorenzi) November 6, 2025
White, who averaged 20.4 points per game last season, sustained the injury in mid-August before the team’s summer rendezvous in Miami. There was initial optimism that he could return to game action ahead of the regular-season opener. Instead, the team announced that week that White would be reevaluated after experiencing calf tightness, acquiescing to the medical staff’s wishes for a longer ramp-up window.
“I just practiced, and I probably practiced a little too long, and I felt some symptoms,” White said of what happened in October. “It wasn’t a re-strain or anything, it was just a minor setback.”
White has been effectively tethered to the treadmill. Running is the focus of his recovery, with recent emphasis on his ability to accelerate and brake.
White chuckled when recalling his frustration with the lack of control over his rehab process. Past injuries at least allowed him to check off various benchmarks and provided more certainty with his recovery steps. Soft-tissue issues like this can be different. Before this saga, the 25-year-old’s only encounter with a similar injury was a groin strain he faintly recalled.
Asked about any connection between the sensitivity of his calf recovery and the belief that such strains are linked to Achilles tears, White aggressively shook his head. He assured the Bulls’ medical staff endlessly tested his calf and affirmed that its durability “is in the green,” suggesting it hasn’t approached a danger zone. White also said his injury “wasn’t a serious strain.”
Still, this bout has challenged him to remain mindful of his condition and stay alert to any hint of pain or tension. The goal was not to return the muscle to its original condition, but to build it up to be worthy of withstanding a season of the Bulls’ unforgiving pace.
The itch to rejoin the fold has been equally difficult, though White said he is happy to take his seat at the show.
“Obviously, the team’s start has been great, right?” White said. “We’re No. 1 in the East right now. I think we have a really good team. Nobody picked us to be where we’re at right now. We’re confident in ourselves and confident (in) each other.”
Assuming White clears his immediate hurdles, his imminent challenge is to jump onto a moving train. Without him, the Bulls’ surprising crew of fringe starters has stunned the East thus far with a 6-1 start. They’ve rammed the gas on a fluid, speedy play style that’s knocked off playoff contenders like Detroit, New York and Philadelphia. Through their obsession with creating transition chances and pursuit of half-court possessions that look like time-lapse photos, these Bulls have found their identity better and sooner than much of the NBA through two weeks.
All without the man who led them in scoring after last February’s trade deadline.
“I think the way I play fits perfectly with the way that we play,” said White, who averaged 24.5 points and 4.3 assists following last season’s All-Star break. “Quick decisions. I’m not a ball stopper; I don’t hold the ball. I just play to win. So I don’t see no problem or anything when it comes to me getting back to it.”
Donovan’s goal is to keep White level upon his return.
“He’s an unbelievable team guy, and he always thinks about the team first,” Donovan said Thursday. “I think the mistake he can make is to come back tiptoeing in, that’d be the first issue. Then the second thing, I think he’s got to give himself some grace.
“I don’t think that you can go a good portion of August, all of September, October training camp, and doing a several-week ramp up where he’s not in any 5-on-5, and think he’s gonna be at his normal as a player. It’s going to take him some time. And I think he needs to be patient with himself.”
With White out, Josh Giddey has emerged as the jumbo playmaker at the head of the Bulls’ system. The 23-year-old is averaging 23.1 points, 10 rebounds and 9.1 assists per game this season while generating All-Star buzz.
“He’s playing at an unbelievable level, All-Star level, for sure,” White said of Giddey. “I always told him since he first got here (that) he could average a triple-double if he wanted to, every single night. He’s obviously an important part of what we do.”
“I told him the other night, I’ve been proud to watch him. Happy for him,” White continued. “Everything he’s been through throughout his career, and everything he’s had to deal with, and still being true to himself. Coming out, proving a lot of people wrong. You always got to love stories like that.”
The Bulls value depth, following the Indiana Pacers, who reached the NBA Finals last season. When members of the Bulls speak of depth, they do so with the idea that all of its guards (Giddey, White, Tre Jones and Ayo Dosunmu) are healthy.
Considering the conditions Giddey has withstood during this run — weeks without the Bulls’ top scorer last season and several games without Dosunmu’s essential rim pressure — adding White, an efficient, high-volume 3-point shooter who can tilt defense with his gravity, seems as simple as adding salt to a dish.
White hopes that it’s merely another few games before he can lend a hand to the Bulls’ winning concoction.