Another Knee Injury Is the Latest Brutal Blow in Derrick Rose's Story

CHICAGO — This time, there wasn’t a moment where Derrick Rose’s health turned.

There’s no video of a horrific ACL tear during a playoff game that can double as promo for #TheReturn. There’s no tape Rose can be asked again and again if he’s watched, no arena in a visiting city or spot on the floor that brings back those memories.

Instead, on Tuesday night, there was just an email, sent out by the Chicago Bulls’ media-relations department 45 minutes into the feel-good Parks and Recreation series finale, announcing that Rose suffered another tear of the medial meniscus in his right knee. It’s the same injury that limited him to 10 games last season. This time, it arrived with less prolonged panic and more simple resignation.

This one came out of nowhere. Knee soreness limited Rose in practice on Tuesday, but Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said he expected him to be available Wednesday night, when the Bulls host the Charlotte Hornets. It was nothing Thibodeau gave more than a passing reference, nothing to be concerned about.

In fact, most of the talk of Tuesday’s practice centered on the coach’s unwavering faith that his superstar was on the verge of turning the corner. After Rose's 1-of-13 shooting performance in Monday’s win over the Milwaukee Bucks—tying his career-worst shooting night—Thibodeau defended his point guard, as he has all season.

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“He’s been out a long time,” Thibodeau said. “You measure your point guard really by how the team plays. … I want him to have the mental toughness to get through it. He had a great rhythm going before the break. He’ll get right back to it.”

By “get through it,” Thibodeau simply meant for Rose to play his way out of his latest shooting slump. That’s been a recurring theme for Rose this season, and he’s certainly had his moments that evoked the player he was at his peak.

Now, he’s going to have to get through something much bigger, something that will require more mental toughness than simply getting over a few bad games.

It’s a battle Rose has fought before, twice. And for all the criticism he’s taken, it speaks volumes of his character and, yes, his mental toughness that he worked his way back from both of his previous knee injuries, never losing confidence in his ability to return to MVP form.

This time will be no different. Rose will do everything he can to get back on the court, just like he did the last two times. His coach and teammates will have his back, because they know Rose’s mentality better than anybody. As for Rose himself, he’ll fully believe, just as he did in 2012 and 2013, that he’ll be back.

At this point, though, even his biggest optimists have to question whether that’s realistic. Coming back from one serious knee injury is a massive accomplishment, let alone two. Three is a tall order. Rose can believe that he’ll return to his 2011-era peak, and he can work tirelessly to get there. But if his body isn’t up to it, there’s nothing his mind can do about that.

There’s no timetable for Rose’s return, and there won’t be until after his surgery.

But even if he chooses to remove the torn meniscus (as the likes of Dwyane Wade and Eric Bledsoe have) rather than repair it (as he did last season), which could have him ready to play in as little as six weeks, it’s tough to imagine an organization that has been so cautious over the last two years deciding to throw him back into the fire around the start of the playoffs.

In other words, it would be a shock if Rose played again this season. The Bulls will attempt to contend for a title without him. They’ve been here before, and this time, they have more talent than they had the last two seasons, when they still managed to be a competitive playoff team without him.

Rose’s latest setback is disappointing on many levels. It’s a game-changer for the Eastern Conference playoff picture that couldn’t have come at a worse time: right after the trade deadline, when the Cleveland Cavaliers are beginning to resemble the juggernaut everyone thought they’d be.

Thibodeau will say the Bulls still have enough to contend, but between the Cavs and the Atlanta Hawks, coming out of the Eastern Conference without Rose is a tall order to fill for Chicago.

More importantly, this is just a bummer for Rose.

It’s nothing he can’t handle mentally. He’s proven that twice. But, barring a miracle turnaround and a decade of good health, Rose’s peers will now be names such as Penny Hardaway and Brandon Roy, explosive scorers with Hall of Fame talent whose bodies betrayed them far too soon.

Even if he recovers and has a respectable rest of his career, Rose has now been robbed of three years of his physical prime and been made the subject of far too much criticism for someone who has worked so hard to overcome it.

And that’s no fun for anybody.