Stop Bashing Derrick Rose

Derrick Rose sat out against the Indiana Pacers on Saturday night due to a strained hamstring that he suffered in the Bull’s previous contest against the Toronto Raptors on Thursday. Ten games into the 2014-2015 season, Derrick Rose has already sustained two significant injuries. Although neither are season or career threatening; the accumulation of smaller injuries may have contributed to his eventual ACL injury in 2012, so he has to be careful. Rose has only played in 4.5 out of 10 games thus far this season, and Chicago fans the nation over are beginning to question not only his ability to stay healthy but his willingness to play at all.

The criticism has run rampant over the last week. Much of it stems from frustration over Rose’s apparent ineptness for staying healthy. Much of it, in some instances justified, comes from his comments earlier this week that I will get to later.

Oct 31, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose (1) on the bench during the second half against the Cleveland Cavaliers at the United Center. Cleveland won 114-108 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

Once again, I’d like to reiterate that I’m a huge Derrick Rose fan and have generally been supportive of his decisions over the last 3 or 4 years with a few exceptions of course. Many of  my recent articles have focused on a justified critique of Rose this season. I have to tried to stress that Rose’s problems stem from a self-created mental barrier that disallows him from playing effectively unless 100%. This self-created barrier has caused him to sit out games because he doesn’t want to go out there unless fully ready for fear of embarrassing himself or letting down his teammates. From my perspective, my critique is justified and doesn’t qualify as the blind hateful remarks that have become a mainstay in media reports and fan comments over the last week.

See, my critique looks minor compared to the flurry of criticism that Rose has been bombarded with over the last week or so. In my opinion, saying that Rose is soft, making fun of him for being ‘injury prone’ and demanding that the Bulls get rid of their all-star point guard takes the criticism to an unfair level. Also, it blows my mind that Derrick Rose has become so disliked over the years. He doesn’t have the type of personality that would command hateful comments to this degree. Rather, Rose is a player that fans with general rooting interests should pull for.

Rose committed a massive public relations blunder with comments that he made earlier this week. These comments remain the source of the criticism from scores of frustrated fans around Chicago-land. In an interview with reporters following a game last week, Rose made these comments. The funny thing about it is that he wasn’t even asked about his injury, rather he said this out of context; something that he undoubtedly regrets.

"I’m thinking about after I’m done with basketball,’’ Rose said, “having graduations to go to, having meetings to go to. I don’t want to be in my meetings all sore or be at my (2-year-old) son’s graduation all sore just because of something I did in the past.’’"

Yes, Derrick Rose screwed up big time with these stupid and uncalled for comments. Not only did Rose appear ungrateful for the blessings that he has been given as an NBA player, but he appeared naive and stupid in the process as well. However, I truly believe that Rose didn’t fully understand what he was saying, and these comments don’t reflect his competitive nature and willingness to go out there and fight with his teammates.

People fed off these comments, using them as a springboard for a flurry of criticism, much of it being unwarranted of course. The problem with what Rose said is he suggested that he only wants to play when he feels like it. That is simply unacceptable in the eyes of many people especially considering that Rose is currently on a max contract worth $95 million and is the cornerstone of the Chicago Bull’s franchise. This fact is what really upset people; and I believe the other criticisms branched off this point.

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There are a lot of people who have used Rose as an outlet for their frustrations. Decent people are turned into monsters when safely hidden behind the screen of a computer. But, in my humble opinion, Derrick Rose is being unfairly targeted by people around the NBA. He is a good player and more importantly a good man and doesn’t fit the prototypical mold of an NBA villain.

First off, wishing an injury on somebody, like many have done over the years to Rose, is an incredibly uncalled for thing to do. It is sadistic, a fate that shouldn’t be wished upon anybody unless their life actions warrant bodily harm. The NBA is a better league when Derrick Rose is healthy and everybody knows it. Wishing injury on someone or joking about a person getting injured isn’t a cordial thing to do; and those that participate in this type of criticism need to look themselves in the mirror and evaluate themselves.

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And then there are the people who question Rose’s toughness by calling him soft. Rose wouldn’t mercilessly throw his body around the court every night if he wasn’t committed to helping his teammates win a championship. The effort is always there and even when he isn’t playing aggressively offensively, he is busting his butt defensively to stop the opponent. These qualities are uncharacteristic of a “soft” player. Rose’s style of play is a tough one, and there is going to be nagging injuries along the way that are just part of the entire process of playing like Rose does. If Rose was soft, like many people are now claiming, he wouldn’t be throwing his body around the court on a nightly basis, rather he would be playing complacently and with minimal effort.

Another criticism of Rose is that he sits when he wants and doesn’t fight with his teammates through adversity. The comments that he made, shown above, testify to the claims of Rose’s critics. However, I truly believe that Rose didn’t mean to utter these words and fully regrets saying them knowing darn well that he made a fool of himself. Earlier in his career, he played through injuries and it only led to a series of season ending injures. He obviously doesn’t want to reciprocate this trend and that is another major factor in play for why he has sat out so much this season. Rose is learning from his mistakes. Rose has to be given the benefit of the doubt in this case. If he felt like he could be out there and perform effectively he would be playing. He loves the game too much to be sitting out for no reason.

A bit of a caveat. Rose needs to learn how to play through injury eventually, especially minor ones so it would be nice to see him try to go out there and play when he isn’t at a full 100%. There were some times this season, when I felt that Rose should have played. If he doesn’t play Monday night, I will be disappointed, but given the traumatizing experience of his two major knee injuries it is easy to understand his hesitation sometimes in coming back too quickly.

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Rose has quickly transitioned from a player that you want to root for to a player that everybody wants to hate. I don’t understand why everybody is so quick to criticize Rose. Personality wise, nothing has changed during his NBA career. Derrick is the same quiet, humble and non-assuming player that he was when he was first drafted, and that is ultimately all that matters in the grand scheme of things. He isn’t your prototypical villain, yet people are starting to treat him this way.

Rose is a player that people should root to be successful because of his unlikely story of success. This isn’t some pampered rich kid who has been handed everything he wants all of his life. Rose grew up in a horrible neighborhood in relative poverty. He resisted the negative influences of the gang life, and through hard-work and perseverance lifted himself up to NBA success. Despite the celebrity status of an NBA player, Rose never changed his personality. He remains quiet, humble and non-assuming; a player that naturally commands a cheering section. He just isn’t the player that would sit on the bench unless something is serious wrong. Nobody works as hard as he did in his rehabilitation process and throughout his career in general to be reduced to life on the bench, especially purposefully. I think it is just absurd how people can claim that Rose quits on his team and chooses to bench himself at his own discretion for no reason.

Nov 13, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose (1) dribbles past Toronto Raptors |guard Greivis Vasquez (21) during the second quarter at Air Canada Centre. Chicago won 100 – 93. Mandatory Credit: Peter Llewellyn-USA TODAY Sports

Honestly, Rose’s story is one of overcoming adversity. The 2014-2015 season is just another chapter in this book. All of the criticism will be used as motivation by Rose to work harder and prove the naysayers wrong. When the Bulls win a championship this season with Rose at the helm, it will be that much sweeter knowing all the people who criticized Rose and talked about all the things that he wouldn’t be able to accomplish.

Throughout his career, Rose has been extremely unlucky with injuries. His two major knee injuries came on non-contact plays. If there is a player in the NBA that deserves a break, it is number 1 on the Chicago Bulls. Rose realizes that he has had unfortunate luck throughout his career, but he also realizes that nobody is going to feel sorry for him. That is why he is working as hard as he can to be the best player possible in order to show people what he truly can do. This work ethic and drive is why people should root for Derrick Rose.

The takeaway from this article: Derrick Rose is committed to the Chicago Bulls. He naively said some things that he didn’t truly mean and rightfully received tremendous backlash for these comments. It happens but it doesn’t take away from all that this player means to the Chicago Bulls and his high level character.

Nov 13, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose (1) prepares to pass by Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (7) during the first quarter at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Peter Llewellyn-USA TODAY Sports

In the grand scheme of things, there is only one group of people who are actually personally affected by Derrick Rose sitting out games. This group would be his teammates. They could have legitimate grievances about Rose warming the bench while they battle it out together each night. However, Rose’s teammates, and for that matter the head coach as well, have expressed their unrelenting support for Derrick through all of his injuries.

Joakim Noah got the ball rolling  in a fiery interview in which he vehemently defended his friend and teammate Derrick Rose.

"“I just, I don’t want to see him down. I know sometimes it’s frustrating, you got injuries, you got tweaks. Every time something happens to him, people act like it’s the end of the world. And that’s f—ing so lame to me. Relax. Like, OK, he’s coming back from two crazy surgeries. Obviously we’re being conservative with him, and when things aren’t going right, he’s got to listen to his body more than anybody. So everybody needs to chill the f— out. I mean, I’m sorry for cursing, but I’m really passionate. I don’t like to see him down. And he doesn’t say that he’s down, but I don’t like it when, like, people portray him and judge him. ‘Cause it’s not fair to him. It’s not. We’re going to be just fine. We’re going to be just fine. We just got to take it as — just, everybody needs to chill out. Chill out.”"

Coach Tom Thibodeau, who historically has been extremely supportive of all Rose’s decisions throughout his injuries, also showed that he has Rose’s back despite his injury plagued 2014-2015 season campaign thus far.

"“He’s navigating through coming back off of 2-1/2 years off, It’s a lot. I think everyone has to take a step back and be patient and let him go through this process. He’s going to be special again, just be patient.”"

Player-coach Nazr Mohammed seconds the thoughts of Noah and Thibodeau in his recent comments defending the work ethic of Rose and attacking the criticism that Rose has commanded over the last couple of weeks.

"“He donated $1 million to charity and that was a one-day news story,” the veteran Bulls’ reserve said. “But every day people have an opinion about something he said or whether he should play through an injury. It doesn’t make much sense to me. I wish his critics and the fans could see the dedication and what he puts into the game. The guy lives in the gym. He’s a team guy. All he thinks about is getting better and helping his team win games.”"

Mike Dunleavy rounds out the flurry of support in Rose’s corner with comments made earlier this week.

"“He’s a great teammate, great worker,” Dunleavy said. “Like my man Aaron Rodgers says, ‘Relax.’ This guy has a long career ahead of him. He’s going to bring a lot of great things to this city. (Health) is a fair concern for everybody. It’s a big topic now in sports, especially in football with concussions. There’s certainly more to life. Especially coming off a day like Veteran’s Day, you think about stuff like that where this is just a game.Look, Derrick’s fully committed. I can speak on his behalf. He’s fully committed the way I see him working. Nobody should question that. You know, it’s a little different viewpoint. But as far as his commitment to us, the city, the team, that should never be put in question.”"

The four men mentioned above represent the most relevant sources regarding their ability to reveal the true nature of Derrick Rose. They are with him every single day and see what he does behind the scenes when the cameras are off and nobody is looking. The Chicago Bull’s are an organization where player’s are held accountable for not only their on-court play but their preparation…both mental and physical. If Dunleavy, Noah, Mohammed and Thibodeau fully support Rose, I think it is fair to say that the criticism is just a bunch of garbage and we (the fans) should support Rose as well.

Go Bulls.