Derrick Rose Doesnt Need to Apologize for Thinking Long Term: CHICAGO — It’s no secret that the Chicago Bulls’ title hopes rest, and have always rested, on Derrick Rose’s health. He’ll never be able to escape it—he can only hope to manage it. That’s going to involve some tough decisions about when not to play and when to play, and those decisions are not always going to be popular. The last time Rose played, in Monday’s win over the Detroit Pistons, he looked terrific. But he hasn’t been able to keep that the story. Even when he simply states the obvious about his maintenance plan and long-term perspective, he can never seem to avoid controversy. “I feel like I’m managing myself pretty good,” Rose said after practice Tuesday. “I know a lot of people get mad when they see me sit out or whatever, but ... when I sit out, it’s not because of this year. I’m thinking about long term. 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, so it’s just learning and being smart.” As tends to happen whenever Rose opens his mouth these days, the comments set off a firestorm. He has a tendency to say things in a way that rubs people wrong, even when what he’s saying is completely reasonable. In this case, the outrage cycle is completely predictable: Guy on $94 million contract sits out a few games with two sprained ankles after sitting out most of two years with serious knee injuries. When asked about it, he says he’s taking the long view. These comments come off a certain way to fans, many of whom cannot fathom the amount of money he’s making. There’s a widespread attitude about professional athletes (and, really, all celebrities) that they’re not allowed to complain about anything when they make as much money as they do. It dehumanizes them and puts our entertainment above another person’s health. A Wednesday column by the Chicago Tribunes Steve Rosenbloom (subscription required) embodied this mindset: I dont know if thats his brother or agent putting that garbage in his head, but its one of the most embarrassing things a player can say. Thing is, its not just that the statement is idiotic, its that he apparently believes it. Its galling and stupid, and Rose doesnt seem smart enough to understand why. The Bulls are trying to win a title and gave him a $95 million contract toward that end. And they get that horsebleep? All of this when, really, all Rose said was that his long-term health and well-being aren’t worth sacrificing to play hurt in a few regular-season games in November. Not when that would put him at risk of being injured during the playoffs, when the Bulls pay him as much money as they do because they believe he can help them win a championship. Rose is 26 years old. In 10 years, his professional basketball career will likely be over, because most NBA players don’t play past their mid-30s. After that, he has his whole life ahead of him to worry about. He has a young son to care for. Of course he wants to be careful about his body. The alternative is winding up like former Portland Trail Blazers star Brandon Roy, who fought through years of injuries and ended up with a degenerative knee condition and a career over at 28. After everything Rose has been through, he’d be insane not to think long term. For what it’s worth, Rose’s coaches and teammates don’t see his perspective as a problem. “Sometimes we all say things that we probably could say differently,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said Wednesday, per the Chicago Tribune. “The bottom line is this: He was injured. He had two sprained ankles. So he did the right thing. And when he was better, he played. It’s really that simple.” “I think [health] is a fair concern for everybody, added forward Mike Dunleavy. “Its a big topic now in sports, especially in football with concussions and things like that. It goes the same with basketball. There’s certainly more to life than it.” Throughout the NBA, the most successful teams have grown more conservative with the way they play their stars. For as much criticism as Gregg Popovich takes around the league for resting Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili in games that are on national TV during the season (as he did last week against the Houston Rockets), the San Antonio Spurs have made it no secret that their careful approach to minutes is integral to their continued success. It’s safe to assume that most Spurs fans can live without their stars for a handful of games during the season if the trade-off is perennial title contention. The Miami Heat, who the Spurs defeated in the 2014 Finals, did the same thing with Dwyane Wade last season. Wade played just 54 games, resting on back-to-backs and playing limited minutes to combat recurring knee issues. It was necessary to keep him healthy, and the sacrifice they had to make is disappointing to fans who bought tickets to a few regular-season games. Wade has since questioned the effectiveness of his maintenance plan, but it was necessary at the time not to run him into the ground. Rose has more reason to be careful than any other star. As it is, knee injuries have robbed him of two full years of his prime. He doesn’t want to go through that again. The Bulls have a lot of money invested in Rose over the next three years, and it’s also in their best interests to maximize his long-term potential. If there has been any misstep in the handling of Rose’s knee injuries, it was the Bulls’ bizarre reluctance to declare him out for the entire 2012-13 season, when he was rehabbing a torn left ACL. Their refusal to get out in front of his timeline opened Rose up to unnecessary talk-radio and social-media criticism, a belief that he was mentally soft or somehow letting down his teammates, when playing before he felt ready would have made him even more vulnerable to reinjury. A simple press release would have averted all of these headaches. The Bulls learned their lesson then, and when Rose tore the meniscus in his right knee 10 games into last season, the team ruled him out for the rest of the year immediately following his surgery. They got out in front of the issue, and the story mostly went away. Still, the uncertainty surrounding the initial ACL tear has created a bizarre, uncomfortable vibe around Rose whenever the subject of his health is raised. He can’t win no matter what he does. If he sits when he’s hurt, he’s soft. If he plays through an injury and not up to his usual level (as he did last week in Milwaukee), he’s putting himself at risk. Coaches and front offices have carte blanche to be cautious with minutes, and it’s lauded as smart management. But when a player says the same things, he’s cheating the fans. The only thing Rose can do that will win back the trust of a fanbase is stay on the floor and lead the Bulls to a deep playoff run after two years of also-ran status. But he can’t shortcut the process, and the only thing he can do in the meantime is make the best decisions for his long-term future. He shouldn’t have to apologize for that. Read more NBA news on BleacherReport #Basketball #NBA #NBACentral #ChicagoBulls #fantasybasketball
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 02:09:09 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015