NBA Players Rally on Twitter in Support of Derrick Rose While Awaiting News

A torn ACL in his left knee cost Derrick Rose the entire 2012-13 season, and now the basketball world is holding its collective breath after a non-contact injury in his right knee has clouded his 2013-14 campaign.

Late in the third quarter of the Chicago Bulls' 98-95 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday, Rose injured his knee while trying to plant and change direction.

He couldn't put any weight on his right leg as Bulls trainers helped him back to the locker room. Rose was later seen leaving the arena on crutches:

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said after the game that the former MVP would undergo an MRI on Saturday, via K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. The full extent of the injury won't be clear until those results are released.

But that hasn't stopped Rose's NBA brothers from taking to Twitter to send out their hopes for the hobbled superstar. His former teammates let him know that their thoughts are with him:

Other players sought help from a higher power:

Rivalries were put aside:

Box scores were forgotten:

This was bigger than basketball, too great to be measured by just the wins and losses columns.

Players understand that any injury could be a severe one, and they know the physical and mental anguish Rose went through just last season.

"I know he’s a strong guy who worked extremely hard this summer to get his body right, working out every day,” Taj Gibson said after the game, via Johnson. “So it sucks that it had to happen."

It sucks when it happens to anyone, but this feels like a particularly cruel twist of fate. Rose seemed like he was finally starting to scrape off the rust from his rehab, and now his season hinges on some test results.

There's nothing left for the basketball community to do but follow the lead of these players. Cross our fingers, bow our heads and simply hope for the best.

Superstars like Rose don't come around often. Losing him—again—would be a tremendous blow for hoops fans across the globe.

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