Derrick Rose's Message Is Right, but It's Being Lost in Translation

Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose left Thursday night's 100-93 victory over the Toronto Raptors with less that two minutes remaining in the ballgame, suffering soreness in his left hamstring after he fell when driving to the basket.

Just two days earlier, however, the former MVP was already addressing questions about his health after missing three early games with a pair of minor ankle sprains.

'I felt like I've been managing myself pretty good,' Rose told reporters after Tuesday's practice. 'I know a lot of people get mad when they see me sit out or whatever, but I think a lot of people don't understand that...when I sit out it's not because of this year.

'I'm thinking about long term. I'm thinking about after I'm done with basketball. Having graduations to go to, having meetings to go to, I don't want to be in my meetings all sore or be at my son's graduation all sore just because of something I did in the past. [I'm] just learning and being smart.'

It's hard to blame the 26-year-old for a little long-term thinking. After playing a total of just 49 games over the course of the last three seasons, he's had some time to put things in perspective-seeing his career with the Bulls as but one chapter of a life that still has a ways to go.

Dan Lippitt/Getty Images

Unfortunately-and understandably-not everyone is going to see it that way.

Typical fans, perhaps suffering sorenesses of their own, would likely be willing to endure a lot of things for just a fraction of Rose's wealth.

As ESPNChicago.com's Nick Friedell recently put it:

He's in the third year of a max contract from the Bulls that will pay him almost $100 million in total. The shoe deal he has with Adidas is worth more than $200 million.

The average person can't comprehend that kind of money, or the idea that a 26-year-old wouldn't want to play through the soreness of a couple of sprained ankles after missing so much time the past two seasons.

In times like these, perhaps it would have been better for Rose to tell the public he was just following doctors' orders. Given the expectations attached to his long-awaited return, now isn't the best time to invoke the distant risk of uncomfortable graduation ceremonies.

Others aren't faulting Rose. Those closest to him are defending his honor and blaming the hysteria.

Center Joakim Noahtold reporters after Thursday's contest:

This is not a one-man team. But at the end of the day we need him, we need him and I don't want to see him down. I know sometimes it's frustrating; you've got injuries, you've got tweaks.

Every time something happens to him, people act like it's the end of the world and that's f---ing so lame to me. Relax. He's coming back from two crazy surgeries, obviously we're being conservative with him, and when things aren't going right, he's got to listen to his body more than anybody. So everybody needs to chill the f--- out.

Jordan Johnson/Getty Images

That's right. Put down your pitchforks and enjoy Chicago's 7-2 record. This team appears to be headed in the right direction, and there's no reason to believe Rose will be absent on a chronic basis going forward.

At the very least, Thursday's setback should be pretty temporary.

'I guess it's cramps in my hamstrings,' Rose told media. 'But I think it's minor, and they decided to pull me out.'

And for now, the plan is to take things day-by-day.

'I don't think it's that serious,' he added. 'Just ice it, stim, see if I can practice [Friday] and give it a go Saturday [against the Indiana Pacers].'

One would expect the organization to be cautious with its best player given his recent history. Wins in November aren't nearly as important as the ones in April, May and-potentially-June. Should Rose sit out against the Pacers this weekend, we should all take Noah's advice-or at least the censored version thereof.

And we should try to put ourselves in Rose's admittedly more expensive shoes.

Lucrative contracts don't excuse bad medical decisions. While Rose's optics could use some work, his position is perfectly sound. Playing it safe is the best plan for Rose and the Bulls alike. You won't find anyone affiliated with this franchise questioning Rose or pressuring him to play hurt, not with what his body has been through already.

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

In Noah's comments to media after the game, he said he felt like Rose is sometimes, 'portrayed as something that he's not':

You don't come back from the injuries that he's coming back from without an unbelievable commitment. ... Just watching the league and the power that [the media] have. Sometimes you guys can really portray somebody as something he's not, and to me that's a little disappointing just because I know how much he cares about this game.

Lokasi:

Share :