The return of basketball’s Derrick Rose

This archived article was written by: Travon Langston

April 28, 2012: Derrick Rose crashed to the floor grabbing his left knee. Tearing his ACL put him and the Chicago Bulls at risk. This was huge for the Bulls; not having your star player for the rest of the season makes it pretty hard to win.
May 2012: After a few weeks and pre-surgery rehabilitation, Rose underwent knee surgery. Bull’s physician Dr. Brian Cole, says Rose knee “looked great” during surgery. August 14, Rose returns to the basketball court and not saying he was cleared to do everything that he can, but he was able to do stationary things, like shots, etc.
November 2012: Rose was cleared to play and start cutting. This was one of the biggest steps for Rose, cutting is a huge factor for him because that involves the knee. For a player like Rose, was athletic and use speed, being able to shift weights, at a nick of time is critical for him. Rose said, “Right now cutting is the hardest thing in the world right now to do. I’m scared of it. And right when I think I get that out of my system, I think I’ll be pretty close where I have to prove to them that I’m ready to play. Hopefully it (doesn’t) take the whole year.”
December 2012: Rose finally started cutting and getting into a running habit. That is one thing for him but, hitting the floor for the first time is unreal. Most people thought Rose was going to play in the games faster than they expected him too, but that was not the case for him. With new faces coming in for the Bulls, his return to practice was critical to help his team develop. Also developing timing and taking the baby steps to the offense. Confidence is a huge thing for Rose and his knee. Rose was going to basketball activities and rehabbing as hard as he can to get the confidence in his knee back.
January 2013: Coach Thibodeau announced Rose was back to full-contact practices which is huge for Rose. It means he can drive to the lane and he can get bumped, play hard defense, get screened. Basically, it means he can actually play basketball now.
April 2013: Sources say that Rose is “completely healthy.” If that is true, why didn’t he start playing in any games? Rose states, “I’m not a selfish guy at all, but having this injury and knowing what I had to go through and being smart, this is something I had to be selfish with. I couldn’t worry about anyone else but myself and my health, it was hard, and one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to go through in my life.” He continues, “After surgery when you start running, when you have an injury like this, there are stages you have to go through. I’m still going through my stages. I’m not done yet. This is the most I ever worked on my craft and most focused I’ve ever been in my NBA career.”
October 2013: Rose finally returned to play against the Indiana Pacers. He had nine assists, was 4-7 from the 3-point range and had 32 points and a win. In the preseason he has been incredible, averaging 20.71 points, five assist and 3.3 rebounds per game. On top of that, he is shooting 44.4 percent from deep. As my father always tells me, “he’s back.”