As Derrick Rose left his family's luxury suite for the Bulls locker room with about three minutes left in the fourth quarter of Game 5, he was actually walking under his own power, albeit with a slight but still noticeable limp.
It was hard to tell if Rose was wearing a knee brace, but just to see him walking without supportive aides was a good sign -- especially considering he had to ride in a golf cart back to the locker room area 72 hours after tearing his ACL.
Just over a week after suffering such a serious injury and with surgery imminent, Rose, by all accounts, looked good. He even appeared to be enjoying himself with his family while watching the game.
Although he hasn't been seen or heard from publicly since getting hurt, Derrick Rose is still a fixture at the Berto Center and he still maintains a presence around the Bulls organization and his teammates.
“Derrick is our leader," said Bulls reserve guard, John Lucas III, who is probably closer to him than anyone on the team. "He came in [after Game 5] and said his little quiet, few words that he says and kept it moving.”
All of the players on the Bulls roster consider themselves family. Like brothers, even. And just like any family, they're supportive of one another when the time calls for it. Rose's teammates have all made a conscious effort to make sure he maintains a positive attitude throughout this ordeal by keeping his spirits lifted at all times, in any way that they can.
“His spirits are great. That's one thing about our team, we all make sure that his spirits stay that way,” Lucas said.
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“We're constantly calling him. Constantly going to see him. He's coming to the gym doing his rehab and his treatment and all that, so we're around him and he's around us. It's not like he's not on the team anymore. He's still a part of this team. Everybody wants to be sad because he got injured, but this is just a minor set back for a major come back for him.”
