It’s official, Derrick Rose will miss time due to injury. That statement has been playing like a broken record over the last three years, and the question of whether D-Rose will ever again be “Derrick Rose” is becoming uncertain.
Call it “The Grant Hill Effect”, a superstar player puts up MVP numbers and then suddenly injuries plague him for the rest of his career. Hill was a cornerstone of the Pistons, and the NBA. With All-Star averages of 21.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 6.3 assists for the better part of six seasons, Hill was destined to be one of the greats. However, his body didn’t share the same belief.
Hill’s chronic ankle injuries proved to be his downfall. His first occurrence came before the 2000 Olympics when Hill was forced to sit out the competition due to injury. Despite the risk of injury Hill completed a sign and trade with the Orlando Magic.
However, Hill would only play in more than 30 games in a season twice during his seven year career with Orlando.
Which brings us back to Derrick Rose. Once the most dangerous and feared NBA superstar not named LeBron, Durant or Kobe, Rose was on his way to basketball immortality, but we all know the story. Rose sat out the entire 2012-13 season, hoping to come back stronger the for the next year. Rose was only able to play 10 games in 2013-14, making his future seem bleak.
It seemed as if the 2014-15 season would be the turning point for Rose. He had a successful run with the U.S. FIBA National Team, and despite being overshadowed by Pau Gasol and Jimmy Butler, averaged 18.4 points five assists for the Chicago Bulls. Then as fate would have it Rose suffered another leg injury.
While all indications are this newest injury (torn meniscus in right knee) don’t seem to be career-threatening, the damage to his psyche and mental state could be forever damaged. The limited amount of Rose we saw for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons wasn’t what we had come to expect from the former MVP.
Sadly, while the Bulls season might be hanging in the balance, we might soon be saying the same about Rose’s career.