Derrick Rose Must Use Kobe Bryant as Inspiration to Play Through Injury
Forget Michael Jordan. If you want to win a title in this day and age, you have to be like Kobe.
Derrick Rose has an injury to his left toe that kept him out of Monday's game against the Memphis Grizzlies. Initially, Rose felt that he had turf toe, an injury that is far more painful that it sounds. An ESPN report issues the injury may be more of a severe jam.
Either way, it is clear that the injury is going to push the reigning MVP to the limits of his pain threshold. The Chicago Tribune's K.C. Johnson tweets an update to Rose's toe injury.
The Bulls were missing their leader in a Monday loss to Memphis, and they will need him against the Phoenix Suns, Tuesday. On the season, the MVP is good for 20.8 points per game, a shade under his 25 points he netted last season.
However, his assists are up and he is looking for his teammates and becoming far more cerebral as a basketball player. His game hasn't been lost on the best in the biz either. Lakers legend Kobe Bryant ran down his list of true gamers recently. Via USA Today:
"Chris Paul is really the only other guy in the league, other than Derrick Rose, who also has that competitive edge.
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That is high praise for a guy who puts winning above all things, including his own health. Bryant is playing this season with a tear of the lunotriquetral ligament in his shooting wrist.
Bryant is no stranger to playing through injury as he now has arthritis in his fingers because injuries suffered during past seasons were never remedied. He just plays through the pain.
That would render normal humans to meager production, but not Bryant. The Black Mamba has willed a season of 32 points per game, and 5.4 assist per contest, the team leader.
So, you won't get any sympathy from Bryant on Rose playing with pain, because the man does it nightly.
Rose is the reigning MVP, and it is time that he shapes what that means. While it is smart for the Bulls to hold him out for a game or more, I wouldn't expect a player like Kobe to ever take a seat unless the pain was at 11.
Bryant gave a heap of praise to Paul and Rose that I still feel is deserving. Those two are some of the fiercest competitors in the game.
However, there is only one Kobe Bryant, a player that would suit up with one arm. Hell, he is playing with just one right now.
