It’s been a long three years for Derrick Rose.
In 2011 he won the MVP award and led the Bulls to the conference finals for the first time since 1998. The following year was supposed to be the year for the Bulls. In the first game of the playoffs Rose tore his ACL, which would be the first of 3 major knee injuries he would have to overcome in his young career.
Here we are in 2015, three years later.
Many people doubted Rose would ever make it back to the court. After his 2nd and 3rd knee injuries, I couldn’t help but think about former NBA player Brandon Roy. Just like Rose, he was a young budding star, making the all star team three times before ultimately retiring in 2011 at the age of 26 because of so many devastating knee injuries. Brandon Roy was never an MVP, but he was a very good player, and it is such a shame injuries took his career away from him. As a sports fan, you never want to see a player go down, even one from a rival team. I am not a fan of LeBron James but I would never want to see him go through that many injuries. Derrick Rose is currently 26 and after three surgeries you have to wonder how much more his knees can take. One more injury could be his last.
Watching Rose walk on the court for game 1 against the Bucks was a great moment for Chicago basketball and the NBA.
Arguably nobody in the NBA has faced more adversity in the last three years than him. People questioned if he was dedicated to basketball after he made comments about wanting to think about life after the NBA. I think many players in his situation could have given up and just collected game checks but Rose never quit. Throughout these injury riddled years I have never questioned Derrick Rose’s heart or mental toughness.
In game one he scored 23 points and dished out 7 assists, even displaying his explosiveness more than once to get easy buckets. This Chicago Bulls team is the most talented since Rose joined and if he can play like that on a consistent basis I don’t see them exiting the playoffs anytime soon. I can easily imagine this team going to the finals and winning, with Derrick Rose leading the way. The biggest question is can Rose attack the basket and use his explosiveness on the regular and stay healthy? My bet says he can. It will be a lot easier this time around with so many weapons to help with the scoring load. Instead of Keith Bogans and Carlos Boozer, Rose has two all-stars in Jimmy Butler and Pau Gasol to pass the ball to, not to mention Aaron Brooks and Nikola Mirotic to light it up off the bench. I haven’t been this excited for the playoffs in years, and it is so refreshing be able to see Rose on the court again.
My fingers will stay crossed but I believe the Bulls can make it to the finals this year, with Derrick Rose lifting up the MVP trophy.
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