Rose steps away from Cavs during injury
If there has been one constant throughout Derrick Rose’s NBA career, it’s his unwavering belief in himself.
His belief that he would return from multiple knee injuries.
“I don’t know what type of player I’m going to be. I just know that I’m going to be very good,” Rose told USA TODAY in 2013 during rehab from a torn ACL in his left knee.
His belief that, despite many injuries, he could return to All-Star level, telling the Chicago Tribune last season, “I feel I’m an All-Star right now.”
His belief that he could help the Cavaliers return to the NBA Finals this season. I ran into Rose, the 2010-11 MVP, at the airport the day before Cleveland’s media day in September and told him I had heard positive words about his play during the team’s unofficial minicamp in Santa Barbara, Calif.
“You don’t even know,” Rose said. Even LeBron James was intrigued. “I’m excited more than anybody about Derrick — DRose. The kid has a lot to prove. I know from competing against him for so many years especially in Miami when he was with Chicago. I know the competitor he’s been over the years. I’ve been a fan of him for a long time, and I never thought in my wildest dreams that I’d be a teammate of his. …
“I’m excited to have him here, and I want people to know that DRose can still play the game at a high level.”
When I saw Rose in Washington in early November, the night James scored 57 points, I told him he was shooting 72% on shots at the rim, and he said he needed to get that to 75%.
He didn’t sound like a player who was ready to contemplate his future with the Cavs and the NBA. But ESPN on Friday reported that Rose, who is out with a sprained left ankle, is not with the team and “is seriously re-evaluating his future in the NBA.”
He has played in seven of the Cavs’ 18 games and hasn’t played since spraining his ankle Nov. 7 against the Bucks.
Cavs coach Tyronn Lue told reporters over the weekend that Rose could take “as long as he wants” but that “we want him back.”
If Rose is considering retirement at 29, maybe that belief in himself has diminished. Maybe that passion to play basketball has waned. The constant injuries, the missed games — it must take a toll.
If this is the end for Rose, not only would he be foregoing the remainder of his money on his Cavs contract, he also would be walking away from an Adidas deal that is worth $70 million for the next six years, according to ESPN.
If this is it for Rose, it will conclude one of the league’s most interesting, bizarre and wretched NBA careers for such a talented player.
Drafted by his hometown team the Bulls, Rose gave the Chicago franchise and its fans hope. He was rookie of the year in 2008-09.
Two years later, he averaged 25 points, 7.7 assists and 4.1 rebounds and was named MVP. The Bulls won 62 games that season but lost to the Heat in the Eastern Conference finals.
Rose tore his ACL in the first round of the playoffs in 2012 and missed the 2012- 13 season. Eleven games into the 2013-14 season, he tore the meniscus in his right knee and missed the remainder of that season. All told during his eight-year Bulls career, he missed 257 games.
Rose fought hard to get back from injuries, including the severe knee injuries. Rose detailed his painful rehab to USA TODAY in 2013, saying, “It felt like someone was hitting my hamstrings with a sledgehammer.”
Even before the Bulls traded Rose to the Knicks, there seemed to be a lack of empathy for his plight. He was the source of fan frustration for Chicago not playing in the NBA Finals during that run.
That was also before Rose’s very public and ugly civil trial in 2016 in which he and two friends were accused of raping a woman. An eight-person jury said the woman’s claims were not credible in a unanimous verdict.
Rose’s career took a strange turn when he missed a game with the Knicks last season without informing the team of his whereabouts. He was fined by the team; Rose called it a family issue.
Rose has always made family a priority. After the birth of his son P.J., he told USA TODAY, “Everything else doesn’t matter. He’s first.”
In 2014, Rose admitted he was concerned about his long-term health, telling reporters, “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.”
We’re left wondering one more time if Rose believes he can be a productive NBA player.