Derrick Rose is a tremendous asset to the NBA in every single way imaginable. That’s my professional way of saying I’m a huge fan of Derrick Rose; the player, the competitor, the leader, and the person. It was as devastating an injury as I can remember when he went down in the first round of these playoffs against the Sixers too. Not just devastating for his Chicago Bulls, but for NBA fans in general. You never want to see anybody get hit with an injury like that, and you certainly don’t want to see it happen to a League MVP. It did though, and the reports that are now surfacing are even worse than most of us probably thought when we saw him forced to watch the rest of that Philly series from the owners suite.
The AP is reporting that Rose could be out for twelve months. That would put him back at full strength this time next year, just as the playoffs are underway. I hope this doesn’t end up being the case, but it sure sounds like it could be. This from that AP report on Tuesday night:
The doctor who operated on Derrick Rose’s knee insists the Chicago Bulls’ star can dominate again. It will take time, though. Rose faces a recovery of eight months to a year.
The assessment by team physician Dr. Brian Cole on Tuesday means the point guard could return around mid-January to early February, or miss next season. The doctor added there is a chance Rose could be back sooner, but ”we’re not going to rush it.”
The Bulls had already said Rose has a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. Cole said there were also two tears in his meniscus cartilage. He said Rose is ”doing great,” that the surgery went ”extremely well” and he can still be an explosive player.
”It’s impossible to predict tomorrow,” Cole said during a news conference at Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center. ”Statistically, he should be that player and then some. That doesn’t mean he’s guaranteed. It’s a whole lot better than we were accustomed to years ago. The ligament is one thing and the meniscus is another. Getting all the things to heal appropriately is really our goal in the early phases. Then, it’s rehab, conditioning — getting his brain connected to his knee, basically.”
General manager Gar Forman insisted the Bulls won’t rush Rose, that they are more focused on the long term than the short-term hit they’ll take without him. The GM is ”hopeful” and ”optimistic” his franchise player will return next season but isn’t sure he will.
This news simply sucks. I’m almost past hoping he doesn’t miss one full season, and moving towards aligning that hope wth the idea that he will get back sometime and be the same player we’ve seen him be throughout his career. Beyond the fact that the Bulls need him, the game needs him too. After finishing with the number one seed in the Eastern Conference this past year, there’s a good chance Rose’s injury could have a similar effect next year to what Peyton Manning’s did for his Indianapolis Colts this past year in football. Meaning Chicago will probably be pretty awful without Rose.
I like Tom Thibodeau, think he’s a good coach, and they have some decent players still. But I’m not sure how Chicago responds collectively if Rose is on the shelf for one full season. The good news, if there is any, is that maybe he comes back in full strength for the 2013-14 season, and the Bulls are so bad next year that they could end up drafting an Andrew Luck type talent at the top of next June’s draft to run alongside Derrick for years to come. That’s a long way off though, and in the meantime, this news just simply sucks. There’s no other way of adequately putting it, at least not one I can think of right now.
