Derrick Rose: Why No Apology Is Needed For Recent Comments
Does Derrick Rose owe anyone an apology for comments he made in regards to thinking about his life after basketball?
Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose has played in five of the team’s nine games so far this season. His best outing thus far has been a 24-point, seven-assist performance against the Detroit Pistons on Nov. 10, a game the Bulls won 102-91.
However, the focus has not been on how well Rose played in that game or how much easier he makes the game for his teammates. Instead, the focus has been on some recent comments he made about his mindset with regards to sitting out games. Here is a look at his statement, per Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times:
"“I’m good, man. I feel I’ve been managing myself pretty good. I know a lot of people get mad when they see me sit out. But I think a lot of people don’t understand that when I sit out, it’s not because of this year. I’m thinking about long term. I’m thinking about after I’m done with basketball, 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 son’s graduation all sore just because of something I did in the past. Just learning and being smart.”"
While Rose was simply providing an honest response when asked how he would assess his play this season, he has been heavily criticized for those remarks. But is all the criticism justified?
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First, let’s take a look at the part of the statement that talks about him looking at his life after his basketball career has ended. From the time we are young children until we reach adulthood, we are taught to think about how our actions today will affect our lives down the road. And not just by our parents, but also our teachers, supervisors and even in some religious circles to an extent.
That being said, why do most people feel the need to criticize Rose for doing exactly that? Yes, I realize that he gets paid more money than what most people will see in their lifetime for playing a sport. And in the eyes of some, that money more than compensates for the potential wear and tear he will inflict on his body over the course of his career.
At the same token, doesn’t it make sense for him to be cautious about the decisions he makes today? This especially holds true when you have children to think about, which is the case with Rose because he has a two-year-old son.
Let’s move on to the next point.
Secondly, has it crossed the minds of those that have been critical of Rose’s comments that maybe part of his thinking is a result of the devastating injuries he has sustained over the past few seasons. I mean, think about it. He was considered one of the best players in the league when he won the MVP award in 2010-11, and he was expected to play a crucial role in helping a franchise re-establish itself as a championship contender.
That is a heavy load to carry on a person’s shoulders, but Rose willingly took on that challenge, and it was easy to see how badly he wanted to win by the effort he put forth on the court each game. Unfortunately for Rose, things began to go south following his MVP campaign.
During the 2011-12 season, he battled multiple injuries, which sidelined him for 27 games. And as everyone is well aware of, he sustained his first career-changing injury in Game 1 of the 2012 playoffs, tearing his ACL, forcing him to miss the entire 2012-13 campaign.
As if sitting out a full year wasn’t difficult enough, Rose also received a ton of criticism for not playing in the postseason, which was totally unwarranted to say the least. How could anyone expect a player to be of value to his team in the playoffs after missing an entire season? That kind of logic just boggles the mind.
Then, just when it appeared that Rose was beginning to turn a corner in his first comeback, he tore the meniscus in his right knee just 10 games into the 2013-14 season, which meant he would miss the better part of another season due to an injury. And I would imagine that having his livelihood stripped from him for two seasons could not have been an easy thing for Rose to deal with.
Fast forward to the present, Rose now has a different mentality to how he approaches games. And just like he was celebrated for being a fierce competitor when he was playing the sport at a break-neck pace, he should be viewed in a positive light for thinking about what he wants his life to be like after his basketball-playing days are over. Furthermore, after sustaining such devastating injuries, no one should blame Rose for looking at the present and his long-term future from a different perspective.
And finally, the last reason why everyone should calm down is because the people around Rose have no doubt how about his level of commitment to the organization.
Here is what forward Mike Dunleavy had to say, as ESPN’s Scott Powers reports:
"“At the end of the day, look, Derrick’s fully committed. I can speak on his behalf. He’s fully committed the way I see him working, the way I see him out there. Nobody should question that. You know it’s a little bit different viewpoint, but as far as his commitment to us, the city, the team, that should never be put in question.”"
And head coach Tom Thibodeau offered this assessment of his starting point guard:
"“He’s dealt with a lot of adversity. You can’t forget that. You look at all the great players who have come in this league and done special things, they’ve all gone through something similar where they’ve had to get past an injury or two injuries. This is not uncommon. And he’ll get through it.”"
Based on these comments, one can determine that the people around Rose have no issues with him choosing to sit out games as he deems it necessary. What is also worth mentioning is that the front office had already made the decision to take a more cautious approach with Rose coming into this year because of the fact that he has played in just 10 games over the past two seasons.
And for those of you who have unwisely doubted how dedicated Rose is to the Bulls, Pau Gasol also showed support for his new teammate, stating that Rose often comes back at nights for additional workouts and that he spends a considerable amount of time after practices trying to improve different aspects of his game, which has enabled him to be a difference-maker on the court.
That being said, there is only one logical conclusion we should all draw from this situation. If the organization doesn’t have a problem with Rose choosing to sit out games periodically, then neither should we.