While Bulls fans have become increasingly frustrated that Derrick Rose has yet to play a game this season – some even going so far as to question how tough he is mentally – his peers in the NBA certainly understand him taking his time, including players on the Miami Heat squad.
After the Heat’s shootaround Wednesday morning at the United Center, LeBron James was fully on board with D. Rose taking his time and not coming back until he’s absolutely sure he’s ready to go out and compete again.
“No one else is playing for him. No one else has to put on the uniform and go out here and play at a high level. He's the guy that has to do that,” James told ESPN Chicago. “When he's confident – when he's ready – then he should come back. Before then, he shouldn't worry about it.”
Thursday will mark 11 months since Rose tore his ACL on April 28 in last year’s playoffs, and since then, fans have been hoping the former league MVP could come back ahead of the initial 8- to 12-month prognosis for recovery.
Rose’s decision to be patient has been unfairly judged against what Adrian Peterson did with the Minnesota Vikings last season after his return from a torn ACL and the triple-double that Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio had on March 12, even though he had already been playing nearly three months.
Every player is different and it seems that athletes have a better understanding of this fact than the fans who watch them perform on a nightly basis.
"He tore his ACL not that long ago. I remember there was a point in time people tore their ACLs and they were out for a year at least,” Heat forward Chris Bosh said. “I think advances in medicine guys can come back sooner. The fact still remains that's a tough injury. It's not easy to come back playing a whole game of basketball. It's very difficult."
Local
Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Follow Outside Shot on Twitter (@Outside_Shot) for more Bulls news and information.
