Derrick Rose was set to return to action on March 11th, yet he did not play. Derrick Rose was medically cleared, however the former NBA MVP opted to sit out the remainder of the season. And the whole postseason. And since neither the Derrick Rose camp nor the Chicago Bulls camp gave us a straight answer as to what was going on, we were left to speculate, and assume.
The Rose camp was quiet, offering only platitudes and bromides. They told us Derrick wasn’t ready to return, even though doctors made it clear that the final step in the recovery process was actually playing in legitimate NBA games. Today, we finally know why. However, we still don’t know why they didn’t tell us!
We now know why Derrick Rose sat out; we just don’t know why they refused to tell us- all NBA season long.
K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune had an interview with Reggie Rose, Derrick’s older brother.
“We couldn’t base his whole career on one year,” Reggie Rose said.
“We look at the longevity of it. Derrick is going into his fifth year. I think Derrick should probably be able to play 15 to 18 years. So it was like why take a gamble on one year when we can make sure that he’s all right and have him for the next 10 years? That was ultimately the decision we made as a team after he tried to get back. And we just stuck with it.”
Reggie backs up Derrick’s claims that he will be ready to go when the Bulls open up the season in October.
“He’ll come back at the level he was at before, and he’s going to have a better jump shot when he comes back. He does a whole lot of shooting drills. He used to put up a lot of shots with (assistant) Coach (Ron) Adams. Unfortunately, Coach Adams isn’t here anymore. That was kind of like his shooting buddy. And Coach Adams did a great job all last year and basically since he was in Chicago before the Bulls let him go.”
Ok, we accept that. SO WHY DIDN’T YOU JUST TELL US THAT AT THE TIME?
Why keep up the charade of “Derrick Rose might or might not play this season?” If you would have just said:
“hey, it’s not right for Derrick Rose to come back this year, we feel better about waiting till next next year.”
Fine. We would have totally understood.
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. An analyst for 95.7 The Fan, he also writes on Chicago sports media for Chicago Now. President Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)