Injury Bug Bites Rose Again

Chicago Bulls star can’t stay healthy

Sean MacCourtney | Sports writer | @seanmaccourtney

Derrick Rose cannot catch a break! The guy is continuously dealing with injuries. Last year seemed to be a turning point for Rose as he was able to play 51 games including the playoffs. Even though the NBA plays 82 regular season games, 51 games was a lot more than in recent years for Rose. Yesterday was the first day of training camp for the Bulls and Rose was injured yet again when he was elbowed in the face by a teammate. The time table for his return has not yet been set.

The injury bug started to hit Rose during the NBA lockout season in 2011. Due to the lockout, the season was cut from 82 games down to 66. Although there were less-games to be played, the schedule became even more demanding because of the shortened amount of time to get so many games in. The NBA even had teams playing on three consecutive nights. This took a toll on Roses’ body and he would miss much of the season. The hard part was that he was coming off of his first MVP season the year before. He was the youngest MVP in league history and it looked as though the future was very bright for Rose and the Chicago Bulls.

There was a spark of hope when Rose returned for the 2012 playoffs. It was game one of the Bulls first round matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers and Rose looked to be his old self. He was dominating the game in typical Rose fashion and the Bulls were going to win the game. With 1:22 remaining in the game and the Bulls leading by 12, tragedy struck. Rose landed awkwardly on his left knee and was lost for the playoffs with a torn ACL because of the impact of such an injury Rose would also be out for the entire 2012-2013 season as well.

After sitting out for a full season and given what many thought would be plenty of time to recover, Rose would return for the start of the 2013-2014 season, looking more explosive and better prepared than ever before. Rose seemed to be good to go for the first few weeks of the season. One of the NBA’s biggest stars returned with a bang and gave everyone reason to believe that he was back! On November 22nd in a game against the Portland Trailblazers, tragedy would strike again as Rose went down with another knee injury, this time the injury hit his right knee. The Bulls would later announce that Rose had torn his meniscus and would be out for the remainder of the season. Once again and for the second season in a row, the NBA would be without Derrick Rose.

For his career, Rose has averages of 17.7 points, 4.9 assists, and 3.2 rebounds per game. When healthy he has proven to be a great player, he was even MVP of the 2011 season and he has been an all-star three times. The problem is that Rose is rarely healthy, since he won the MVP he has only played in 100 of 246 possible regular season games. The only good take away from this latest incident is that the injury wasn’t worse. Luckily for Rose, it did not involve his already surgically repaired knees.

I hate to see any player go down due to injury, especially when they are in the prime of their career. I hope to see Rose have a solid career but time is running out for him. Truly, only time will tell.