He’s
the point guard for the Chicago Bulls who once again has turned up injured. It’s
a knee problem, and he had surgery last month.
BUT
AS THE Chicago Sun-Times reported, the ball player whom many believe the key to
whether or not the Bulls will ever be a significant basketball team in coming
seasons doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to recover.
While
team officials say they’d like to think he will be healed in just over a month,
Rose said he’s not about to rush himself to play again this season. “Whenever I
feel well, that’s when I’ll step back on the court,” he told the newspaper.
On
the one hand, I have no doubt that Rose thinks he’s being particularly honest
in assessing his recovery. He’ll play when he plays, and not a moment sooner.
Maybe he thinks he’s saving himself for future glory to be performed on the
basketball court.
Maybe
he envisions this as an isolated incident that will be long forgotten by that
future date many years from now when he is inducted into the professional
basketball Hall of Fame.
BESIDES,
HE’S AN athlete, someone who is used to being coddled because he’s special. He’s
Derrick Rose. His knee is more important than any body part of a mere mortal.
But
let’s be honest.
Sports
fans are willing to mollycoddle the athletes who on a certain level perform. In
the case of Rose, this is the third time in seven seasons playing in the
National Basketball Association that he has suffered a severe injury that
disrupted his playing time significantly.
Learning
that he doesn’t care enough to want to return to play makes him come across
like some sort of wimp. I can’t help but wonder if the Rose legacy is now set
in Chicago as some sort of flake who wasn’t tough enough to endure on the
court.
IF
THAT’S THE case, then the biggest joke in this commentary was that line five
paragraphs ago that hinted Rose will become a basketball Hall of Famer. He
could wind up as the most disappointing athlete to ever wear the jersey of a
Chicago professional sports team.
He
definitely has surpassed Eddy Curry as the most disappointing hometown boy who
was drafted Number 1 and expected to lead the Chicago Bulls to championship
success for years to come.
Perhaps
Rose still mentally thinks he’s the Simeon Career Academy athlete who will be
coddled because, in his mind, “I’m Derrick Rose.” The guy who once faced
allegations that he had someone else take his SAT college entrance exams and
had his high school boost his grades to keep him academically eligible to play
ball.
Sadly
for him, Rose probably won’t realize how much his attitude stinks until he has
washed out with the Bulls. He may wind up latching on to another NBA team, like
the one-time Thornwood High School star Curry did. He may even be better off
away from the pressure of playing in Chicago.
BECAUSE
THE EXPECTATIONS here are turning out to be something that Rose doesn’t seem capable
of living up to. Unfortunately, the Bulls’ roster these days seems based around
the idea that Derrick is the team leader.
Without
him, there is little chance of the Bulls accomplishing much of anything
resembling success. While those years of athletic glory in the 1990s drift
further and further into our city’s memory.
To
the point where the Luv-a-Bulls’ routines could wind up being the only thing
worth checking out at the United Center these days.
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