Rose had surgery to fix a left orbital fracture Wednesday, one day after he was elbowed in the face by one of his teammates during practice. Rose has dealt with numerous injuries over the past few years, including multiple knee issues that forced him to miss large chunks of two seasons. Or when the world noticed that Joakim Noah, who had a history of foot troubles, was being asked to play almost 40 minutes a night while (literally) running more than anyone in the National Basketball Association in 2012-13. In comparison, Rose accumulated a scant $32 million a year ago, which was 20 percent lower than his 2013 sales. “I just feel like when you’re that focused, people try to take you down”.
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“I’m going to keep it for a little bit”, the Grizzlies point guard said. He quickly apologized for his mistake, and said in a statement that “Derrick Rose is anti-gang, anti-drug and anti-violence”.
And while this setback pales in comparison to the three knee surgeries Rose has endured, it’s yet another mental challenge for a former most valuable player who tried to remind all of his greatness.
Rose has only played in 100 regular season games during the Bulls’ last four seasons due to injuries.
As Rose has learned, an incredibly rich basketball player must live with almost unattainable expectations-not only in one’s decision-making off the court, but as a professional on the court. But hindsight is always easier than foresight, and the truth of the matter is that Derrick Rose, as good as he was in 2011, and as good as he is when he’s on the court without restrictions, may never return to his MVP form or anything remotely close to it.
“Even though we’re all right, we’re comfortable, when you talk about that x-amount of dollars, I think it raises everyone’s eyebrows, ” Rose said.
But Rose’s eye injury may be the least of his worries.
After playing 46 of the first 57 games of the 2014-15 season, Rose had two uncharacteristically bad performances and fans wondered if their injury-plagued point guard could possibly be suffering another ailment.
Cavaliers star LeBron James – whom the Bulls face in their season opener on October. 27 – echoed those sentiments.
The Bulls play their first preseason game Tuesday against Milwaukee at United Center.
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Hoiberg sounded hopeful in his quotes and even if Rose can’t return for opening night, it doesn’t sound like he will miss an extended period of time if he returns after that.
