Sep 29, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose is interviewed during media day at the Advocate Center. Mandatory Credit: Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports
You can give up on Derrick Rose if you want. The former MVP of the league is used to it. After sustaining two career threatening knee injuries, he expects people to question his ability to once again play basketball at an elite level.
Some of his performances this season have warranted some skepticism, but in the words of Rose in a press conference immediately post-ceding his second career-threatening knee injury, if you choose to doubt him you are going to end up eating your words.
"“I could tear or hurt myself 10 more times. I’m never going to stop. You can be a fool if you want to. I’m serious. I’ll be alright.”"
Derrick Rose has never been short of confidence. The above statement is another shining example of how much the young point guard believes in himself. Rose has delivered even more dramatic manifestos in the past.
In a summer 2013 interview with CNN anchor Pedro Pinto, Rose stated that he is the best player in the NBA despite sitting for a year and a half previously with a torn ACL.
Obviously, talk is cheap. Derrick Rose will only have a legitimate body of proof for his statement when he starts performing on the court at an elite level. Rose’s time in the NBA has really been marked by a tale of two careers: the domination that marked his career pre-injury, and the mostly frustration that has ensued since.
Rose’s story doesn’t have a definite ending obviously, yet a life-time worth of drama has been bundled into his short 6 year career thus far in the NBA. His story is really one of defying obstacles, and overcoming injury. He hasn’t defied the biggest obstacle of his career thus far—-the two injuries—-so people overlook the fact that Rose’s story as a player and person is an inspirational one. As he continues to make his way back to the player he once was, the world will watch (and heavily critique) his every move.