I hate to say this, but it’s over for Derrick Rose. When the
news broke on Tuesday night that he had a torn meniscus in his right knee again for
the second straight season, my heart sank. I couldn’t help but feel like this
was the nail in the coffin on the career of an athlete with limitless potential.
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My first memory of Rose was when he was this uber-athletic, at times out-of-control, ball dominant guard
who always played with a full head of steam, starring for that snake John Calipari at Memphis. I specifically remember being terrified of him before
my Vols played them that season, because I didn’t think there was any way they'd be able to keep him away from the basket, or from totally disrupting everything
they wanted to do defensively. I thought he was going to torch them. And at times, he did, but Tennessee was fortunate enough to escape victorious in one of the great sport’s wins of my life (Tennessee ,
with the win, achieved their first ever number one ranking). The Tigers did
bounce back though, as they got a number 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and rolled through
everyone on their way to the championship game. As they were ripping through everyone, Rose built a ton
of momentum, and put together a fantastic tournament resume, including an
absolute demolition in the national semifinal of a UCLA team that included
future NBA players Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, Darren Collison, and Luc
Richard Mbah a Moute (he finished with 25 points and 7 rebounds). In that
aforementioned championship game against Kansas, Memphis pulled ahead with 8:11
remaining, and built what seemed to be an insurmountable 9 point lead with 2:12
left, before a combination of the Jayhawk blistering shooting (they made 100%
of their shots in the rest of regulation) and Tiger misses at the foul line,
including an enormous brick by Rose, led to a Mario Chalmers' miracle three that sent the game into overtime, where Kansas ultimately
won, 75-68.
Despite their failure in the championship game, Rose made himself eligible for the NBA, and quickly shot up the draft boards, where he was selected first overall by the Chicago Bulls. His first two seasons as a professional were chalked
full of explosive drives to the basket, enormous throw downs, and at
least 2-3 “oh my gosh, did you see that” displays of athleticism per game, though they ultimately led to nothing more than an extremely exciting seven game first
round playoff series with the Celtics in 2009, and a few Sportscenter Top 10
plays.
The potential for some much more was evident, though it just hadn’t
been realized quite yet. I remember watching him during that time period, and
feeling like he was going to always miss every jump shot that he attempted. He also
really had no idea how to run a team, get everyone involved, or keep his teammates consistently happy throughout the game. He was basically just out there being the best athlete
on the court every night and hoping that was enough.
Then 2011 happened. Chicago
hired Tom Thibodeau, an extremely intelligent basketball mind, off Doc Rivers’
staff in Boston , and signed Carlos
Boozer to a max contract (that didn’t work out all that great, but at the time?
Brilliant!). Expectations were high, and the Bulls and Rose didn’t disappoint, as Derrick put together an incredible season, and maybe the best ever in the history of
the league for a 22 year old guard, as he averaged 25 points and 7.7 assists
per game while leading Chicago to a 62-20 record, the best in the Eastern
Conference. He was in constant attack mode all season, as he got to the rim at
will, found open teammates, and even started to hit a few jumpers here and there. Chicago
became one of the best defensive teams in the league, and basically depended on
Rose to create everything for them on the offensive end, a task he met time and
time again. For his efforts that season,
he was voted MVP of the entire Association, becoming the youngest such recipient of that award in league history.
The Bulls blew through the first two rounds of the playoffs
with ease, before encountering the big bad Miami Heat and LeBron James in the conference finals.
Rose had a mediocre series (he shot just 35% in the five
games), and the Heat easily dispatched the Bulls 4 games to 1.
Obviously, it was a disappointing defeat, but Rose was still
a young, ever-improving player, and his team had only just come together. Plus, plenty of great players had hit road blocks early in their careers, before ultimately breaking through and winning titles, so the loss to Miami
wasn’t completely out of the ordinary. Everybody thought this team would be around for
years to come, and that the championship window would be open for a long time.
If they only knew the tragedy that would be taking place less than a year
later.
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The lockout-shortened, 66 game 2012 season was a frustrating
one for Rose, who battled through various ailments all year which kept him from appearing in 27 games. Despite those injuries, Chicago
still finished with the best record in the East again, this time at
50-16. They entered the playoffs confidently against a young and inexperienced Philadelphia
76ers team. (I know, the Sixers in the playoffs? What? How did this happen?).
Rose was finally healthy (or so we thought), and the Bulls had their sights set
squarely on avenging that painful loss to the Heat from the year before.
But they never made it that far. In Game 1 of the Philly
series, with Bulls leading by 12 with 1:22 remaining, Rose drove towards the basket,
leapt in the air, and landed awkwardly, forcing him to crumple to the ground holding his
left knee, writhing in pain. I remember watching the game, hoping that it was
nothing more than a hyperextension, but fearing the worst, because his knee buckled.
Selfishly, just as a basketball fan, I hated it, because really enjoyed
watching Rose play, and I knew that if it was something serious, it was going
to be so much worse for him, because he was a guy that depended on his
athleticism so much to be successful. I wanted to watch Rose on the court as
many times as possible, and a serious injury would’ve put this season, and the
next, in jeopardy.
The news broke sometime after the game that it was indeed a
torn ACL, and I remember getting a “Stick a fork in the Bulls” text from my
Angry Old Man. The reason those words resonated so much with me was because I
was shocked my Pops even knew how to send a text message. Normally he’d just
call me and yell into the phone about how we’d lost the country before abruptly
hanging up.
But he was right, as the Bulls lost four of the next five
games and were sent home from the playoffs earlier than anyone expected.
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It would be a long time before anyone saw Rose play another
NBA minute. Nobody knew when he’d return during the 2013 season, but most
people thought they’d at least see him at some point during the year.
But as the season began, and games and months began to pass, it became more and
more apparent that there would be no D-Rose in 2013.
The Chicago
fans, and most of the media, did not handle that reality well at all. It didn’t
help that Derrick hardly ever spoke to the press during that season (something
that wouldn’t be allowed now), or that Iman Shumpert, who tore his ACL on the
exact same day as Rose, returned to the Knicks’ lineup on January 17th.
Throw in the fact that almost all of his Bulls’ teammates gutted out multiple
playoff games with serious injuries while Rose continued to sit on the bench,
and that he signed a massive, 5 year, $93 million dollar extension in December
2011, and it wasn’t shocking that D-Rose wasn’t exactly the most popular athlete in
the city during and after the season. He was getting paid millions of dollars,
and the fans wanted to see him suit up and do Derrick Rose things again. They
wanted to see him battle with his injured teammates against the hated Heat in
the playoffs. They wanted to see their star shine.
But he wouldn’t shimmer during that season. Chicago
lost in five games to Miami in the
conference semifinals, and Rose did nothing but sit on the bench wearing a suit
and tie.
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Maybe Rose was destined to break down. Watch his legs during
this highlight film. Look at the unbelievable amount of
torque he put on his knees, ankles, and hips almost every time he attacked the
basket. He’d land with his body going one way and his legs awkwardly pointing
in another, followed by him somehow inexplicably exploding towards the rim. If
I had to describe his playing style in one word, I’d call it ‘violent’; he
changes directions so sharply and quickly, and there’s no way that didn't put
an enormous amount of stress on his joints and ligaments. If there was anybody
who was going to have multiple knee injuries, wouldn’t it be him? Should anyone
really have been shocked by that? Probably not. Ironically enough, the very
thing that made him so effective may have cost him everything.
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Everybody was anxiously awaiting the return of Rose during
the 2013-14 season. We hadn’t seen him play in 18 months, besides in a few
meaningless preseason games. We also had no idea what to expect. Would Derrick
be able to recapture his athleticism? Would he still be explosive? Did his
jumper improve at all? And could he reestablish himself as the best player on a
championship contending team?
We never really got an answer to those questions. Rose
struggled mightily (for him), averaging just 15.9 points and 4.3 assists per
game on 35.4% shooting, before he suffered another gigantic, career-altering
setback in Portland in his tenth game of the season, as he limped off the court with an apparent knee injury in the third quarter. Our
worst fears would be realized soon after; Rose had a torn meniscus in his right
knee, and he would need season-ending surgery to repair it. Once again,
Derrick’s year was over.
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I spent a lot of time over the last few days (probably too
much time, because my brain started to hurt after a while) trying to figure out
the right cross-generational NBA comparison for Rose, before realizing that
there really wasn’t one. The best I could come up with was Bernard King, though
it’s not a perfect fit. ‘Nard, a small forward, never won an MVP like D-Rose
did (he finished 2nd in 1984, and 7th in ’85), but was also so much more of an unstoppable scorer than Rose ever dreamed of being.
For those of you unfamiliar with Bernard’s career, here’s a
basic layout; after struggling for a few years with drug problems, King came
into his own as the best scorer in the NBA on lackluster Knicks’ teams in the
mid 80’s. He was the most difficult guy to guard in the league from November of
’83 to March of ’85, before he also tore his ACL in a game against the Kansas
City Kings. He was the player we all hoped Carmelo Anthony would become, only
we all now know that ‘Melo was never up for it. He scored a ton (26.3 points
per game in ’84, 32.9 points per game in ’85), and was extremely efficient
(57.2% shooting in ’84, 53% shooting in ’85), and also elevated his teams,
as he dragged a mediocre ‘84 New York team through seven extremely competitive
games with the future World Champion Celtics in the conference semifinals. But
that torn ACL was a career killer 30 years ago, and it sapped Bernard of almost
all of his explosiveness, which made him so much less effective. What a
tragedy. It makes you want to curse the basketball gods.
Injuries kept ‘Nard, who was on his way to being one of the
40 greatest players ever, from reaching his potential. The same can be said for
Rose. In June of 2011, I would have believed almost any positive outcome for his career. He, at just 22, was one of the two best point guards in the
league (along with Chris Paul), the most explosive athlete in the NBA outside of Russell
Westbrook and Blake Griffin, and was only getting rapidly better every season.
But then he smashed into the injury wall repeatedly, more times than any crash
test dummy ever would.
Plenty of players have had their careers decimated by
injuries. But how many times has it happened to a guy with top 40 all time
potential? Not very often. And when it does, it’s heartbreaking.
King eventually found his redemption (sort of) when, at 34
years old, he averaged 28.4 points per game on 47.2% shooting and made the All
Star team playing for the ’91 Bullets. And despite those extremely impressive
numbers, he was still far from the ‘Nard that terrorized everyone for two
straight years. Will Rose every have a bounce back season like that?
Considering how much more technically sound King was (he actually had a
reliable jump shot), and how many different ways he had to score, compared to
how Rose basically started everything in his basketball life with his
athleticism (which is fledgling as we speak from his repeated knee injuries), I
think it might be, as unfortunate as this sounds, highly unlikely that he ever
recaptures that magic again.
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I was cautious when I heard that Rose was going to be
playing for USA Basketball this past summer. I didn’t know what to expect from
him, as I hadn’t seen him play competitive basketball since November 2013, or compete
at a high level since April 2012. There were a few video clips from practices
that summer that looked like the old D-Rose, but I wanted to see him on the
court playing real basketball against teams that were trying their hardest to win. Again, there were flashes
of brilliance, and the old Rose, but there were never any stretches of
sustained excellence. He never put together one complete, classic, throwback D-Rose game in any of their tournament games, and he never came close to
consistently looking like Derrick again.
I guess this didn’t surprise me, and I didn’t expect all
that much from him. The team was loaded, he hadn’t played basketball in
basically 26 months, and he’d just gone through two major knee surgeries. More than
anything, I was just happy to see him out there, getting knocked around and
taking some bumps, because he hadn’t done that in so long.
The 2014-15 season arrived, and Rose was, for lack of a better term,
sluggish. The numbers (18.4 points, 5 assists per game on 40.7% shooting) and
the tape weren’t close to what we were used to seeing from him, and it was
becoming more and more apparent that we might not ever see prime, 2011 Derrick ever again.
But I didn’t give up hope. Every once in a while, he would
play a game, like against Cleveland the day before the All Star break, where he
ran around, drove to the basket, knocked down some tough jumpers, and got his
teammates involved, as the Bulls absolutely demolished the Cavs. Games like
that one kept my hopes up. If he could ever get healthy and shake off all the
rust, why couldn’t we see that guy again, consistently, every night?
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Derrick’s biggest problem, to me, more than anything, was
that he was never able to overcome his mental demons. Sure, his knees were
ravaged over the last three years, but when he was on the court, he just looked so timid and terrified, like he was worried about planting awkwardly and ruining
everything again. His drives were way less frequent, and he stopped
landing and exploding towards the rim from every conceivable angle like he used to. That’s why
I didn’t kill him for his “I don’t want to be in pain at my kid’s graduation”
comments that he made back in November like so many other people did, because I
understood it. He just wasn’t right mentally. The only person who might’ve
been more scared watching Rose night to night this season than me was, in fact, Rose
himself.
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I got the same, “stick a fork in the Bulls” text from my
Angry Old Man on Tuesday night, when the tragic news broke that Rose had, once
again, torn his meniscus in his right knee. The outpouring of support and
prayers from the NBA community and fans was unbelievable. Not again. Not
to this guy. He’s already been through so much.
Rose had successful surgery today, and the Bulls expect him
to be back in 4-6 weeks, which means he could be back for the playoffs. Even
still, isn’t it fair to ask if Chicago
done this year, even with Rose? I don’t have a real solid answer to that
question, but it’s leaning that way.
But I can more solidly answer this one: Will we ever see
apex, 2011 Rose again? No, we won’t. I don’t think his knees will ever be right
again, and I doubt we’ll ever see him put together a full, 82 games, plus
playoffs, season again. And I don’t think he’ll ever be able to fully defeat
his internal demons. Another knee injury means more doubt, more fear, and less
court time.
This is the biggest NBA tragedy since the Malice at the Palace, not only because we’ve lost such a great talent, but
also because it seems like everybody has basically forgotten just how awesome
Rose was. There’s this revisionist history creeping around on Derrick’s career
now, that he was basically nothing more than Allen Iverson, Stephon Marbury, or
Steve Francis (What a farce. Rose was never that selfish, and he competed way
more on the defensive end), and that he wasn’t a “winning” basketball player,
nothing more than a fireworks show, according to Colin Cowherd. I remember
having a Steph Curry-Rose conversation with my Angry Old Man during the 2013
playoffs, and thinking to myself, “Yeah, I mean Curry is a great player, but
has everyone forgotten that D-Rose was the NBA MVP JUST TWO YEARS AGO??!! DOES
THAT NOT MATTER TO ANYONE??!!” He stole the MVP from LeBron during the King’s
prime, and every media member was all for it. I don’t remember hearing any “Rose
is Iverson” criticism back then. But now that he hasn’t played at a high level
in such a long time, the in-the-moment observations are forgotten, and the
narrative around his career has completely changed. What a shame.
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I hate this so much, and I’d love nothing more than to give
the basketball gods a collective roundhouse drop kick right to the throat. Get
well, Derrick Rose.
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