Sometimes the basketball gods are cruel.
This is one of those times.
After surviving nearly 75 percent of the season, Derrick Rose has gone down. Again. He needs surgery to either repair or remove a torn meniscus in his right knee. Given that this is the second time he’s suffered the exact same injury on the exact same knee, you have to wonder if removing it, a la Dwyane Wade, isn’t smarter.
Anyhow, an outpouring of support from NBA circles naturally followed Rose’s latest injury. Not only were his teammates waxing disappointment following the Chicago Bulls’ loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night, but Luol Deng apparently almost cried upon learning the news.
Per Iran Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel:
For a moment, Luol Deng was back in Chicago, back with the Bulls, back to one of those nauseating moments when word broke of another injury setback for Derrick Rose.
“Honestly,” he said Wednesday, “I was almost in tears. It’s different when you know the guy that well.”
Deng wasn’t the only non-teammate lamenting Rose’s latest setback, either. LeBron James hopped on the sympathy bandwagon, sending good vibes Rose’s way through twitter:
Man feel bad for D.Rose! Keep your head up homie and stay strong G!
— LeBron James (@KingJames) February 25, 2015
LeBron also did a video for Bleacher Report, during which he sent out further condolences and, most importantly, votes of confidence. Here’s what he said, courtesy of CBS Sports:
“Last night after our game, after a huge win, we got some news that Derrick Rose was having surgery again on a torn meniscus,” James says in the video. “It was terrible news to get, man. I could never know what he’s going through mentally or try to put my feet in his shoes and tell him, ‘Listen, I know exactly what you’re going through’ because I don’t. I’ve never been in this situation before.” …
“One thing I can tell him, man: Just keep your head-up, D-Rose. Man, keep your head to the skies. Lean on your loved ones. Vent to your loved ones. And you will make it through this, man, and you’re going to come back even stronger. I believe that. I see so much determination in your eyes and in your play and I don’t have a brotherhood relationship with you, G, but our NBA, our league is a brotherhood. And we all want you, and I know I want you to come back stronger, man, because I wish this on no one.
The idea that Rose, 26, will come back even stronger feels farfetched these days. He started rounding into form just ahead of the All-Star break, looking not like the Rose of old, but pretty damn close. His flashes of explosion were more frequent, his stat lines more polarizing.
The hope that he could return to previous form was there, flourishing, more alive than it’s been in years.
Now, after this latest wrinkle, whether Rose’s body is just ill-fated or ill-equipped, you have to wonder if this is his fate, to walk the NBA has an injury-prone point guard, forever providing fast-fleeting glimpses into the player he used to be, never permanently escaping the marginalized version of his former self he now is.
