Is It Worth It for Rose to Continue His Career?
Yet another knee injury has befallen the former MVP
A refrain way too familiar with Bulls fans played out in New York over the weekend. Derrick Rose tore his left meniscus and will miss the rest of the season. This time, it came with the huge contract he signed with the Bulls before his ACL tear was about to expire. The Knicks have left open the possibility of bringing him back, but that’s all talk right now.
Is this all worth it for Rose though? Is he willing to go through yet another summer of focusing on rehab instead of merely refining his basketball skills? He’s gotta be sick of going through this over and over again.
The short answer is yes, Rose will choose to experience it once more and a team looking to fill cap space or one that thinks he can resemble half the player he once was will sign him. It’s clear he’s a high risk now, but the potential reward is still high to a degree that stops short of superstardom. He doesn’t need to reach that level though, just one that allows him to contribute regularly to a basketball team.
Despite this, there must be a voice somewhere deep in the back of Rose’s mind asking him what he’s doing. With apologies to the cliché crowd, insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting something new to come of it. How many more times does Rose have to suffer the same knee injury before he gets the message that his body isn’t built for his style of play? It lends credence to the theory that the aforementioned voice in Rose’s head doesn’t exist.
If Rose was smarter, he might realize all this rehab is just not worth it. He’s not the player he was before the 2012 playoffs and never will be again. It’s a heartbreaking story that will eventually end with him becoming the only NBA MVP not to enshrined in the Hall of Fame. And it came at the expense of his hometown franchise that also hasn’t been the same since.
It would save everyone a lot of trouble if Rose decided enough was enough and the time has come to retire. Teams wouldn’t have to question how much money to give him or how much he can contribute. This coming rehab would likely be the final one of its kind he would have to worry about. Best of all, this whole narrative that he can still be something special can die once and for all.
Asking someone to give up their lifetime passion at age 28 is a very difficult thing to do. Nobody in their right mind would do it either. But this is a special and difficult set of circumstances. Then again, Rose’s whole life has been made up of those.
Even if Rose chose to walk away on his own, it’s unlikely Reggie, B.J. Armstrong or anyone else in his circle would allow him to. They’ve made too much money off him already and will be damned if they miss out on more, even if his latest contract isn’t as much. He’s never shown to be capable of making his own decisions, so why start now?
More importantly, Rose himself probably has no interest in walking away. He’ll do whatever it takes to recapture his former glory if it takes another four rehabs to get there. That drive to be great has always been one of his most admirable qualities. At the same time, it’s a dangerous one given what he’s been through.
Good for him if he wants to see where else he can go in basketball. Don’t expect him to get very far though. His body has betrayed him and there’s no way it will stop as long as he’s a professional basketball player. He wants to preserve his body for meetings and graduations, so why not get an early start on those?
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