Here’s how Cleveland Cavaliers fans should feel about Derrick Rose’s possible retirement

Cleveland Cavaliers fans probably haven’t been able to connect with Derrick Rose during his short tenure with the team. So how should they feel about him possibly leaving?

When a 20-something-year old NBA veteran decides to call it quits, it’s usually surprising. But past early retirees don’t have the injury history of Derrick Rose.

This past weekend’s news that Rose is contemplating early-onset retirement raised eyebrows, but wasn’t shocking. Rose, already sidelined with two bugaboos in his first year with the Cleveland Cavaliers, is the real-life version of the guy in the game Operation. He’s missed 264 games in his career. He simply can’t stay healthy.

It’s not the injuries, but the mental burden of rehabilitation that has wearied Rose to the point he might walk away from basketball and millions of dollars in endorsement money. You don’t just leave that life without giving it some serious thought.

How should the average Cavalier fan feel about this? Economically, the team invested very little in the point guard. Rose inked a veteran’s minimum deal in the offseason. The signing of the former MVP was a low-risk, high-reward move for the team.

So far, Rose has contributed little on the court, evident by his -0.03 Real Plus/Minus. That’s 83rd in the league…among point guards. He’s averaging 14.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game, and in his absence, the Cavs are in the midst of a season-long eight-game winning streak.

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So practically speaking, there’s little reason for Cavs fans to care about Rose’s potential retirement. He’s like a girl who ghosts after the first date; it probably wasn’t going to work out anyway and her coffee only cost $2. To adjust, the Cavs might have to play Jose Calderon extra minutes, or let LeBron James and Dwyane Wade handle the ball. And that’s worked out well so far.

LeBron plus Rose isn’t an equation for success.

So you, the typical Cleveland Cavaliers fan, hardly thinks twice about Rose leaving. It probably won’t impact the wins and loss column at all.

The more vindictive Cavs fans might even take pleasure in Rose’s possible retirement. They’ll remember how he dominated the Cavs in his MVP season, averaging about 24 points and eight assists against Cleveland. Or how Rose drilled that triple-overtime bank shot in the 2015 NBA Playoffs, giving the Bulls fleeting hope while putting the Cavs’ waltz through the Eastern Conference on pause.

Rose will always be tied to Chicago. He’s the city’s prodigal son who briefly left to be a Memphis Tiger only to return and win MVP while guiding the hometown team to the Eastern Conference Finals. Many fans irrationally clutched to the possibility that he would regain stardom after seasons plagued by injury. Maybe some Cavs fans would like to see an iconic athlete directly tied to a rival city, and a team that famously torched the Cavs for years under Michael Jordan’s leadership, crash and burn.

Then there are the LeBron diehards — de facto Cleveland fans who cheer for whatever city the King’s throne sits. They’ll likely be the most pleased, if pleased at all, by Rose’s possible departure, potentially still sour he snagged the MVP trophy from their idol in 2011. The two rivaled for the better part of Rose’s career. Naturally, the animosity still permeates even though the former foes wore the same colors. This feeling is vindictive as well.

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Just to clarify, I’m not casting judgement from a high pedestal. As a Blink-182 fan, I used to hate everything Green Day, even when the pop-punk powerhouses toured together. Human beings take sides and hold grudges. More power to you if you can channel engrained, hostile emotions towards sports as opposed to something that truly matters like politics or your personal life.

On the other side of the coin, most Cavs fans will likely take sympathy on Rose. They understand karma has crippled a once spectacular player and solid ambassador for the NBA. If you can call careers cut short tragic, Rose’s career is as sad as they come.

Fans like these are sympathetic towards Rose, or at least sympathetic towards his career. No tears need to be shed over an athlete who has inked both a gigantic NBA contract and a $185 million shoe deal with Adidas.

But it’s fair, and probably most proper to lament on what could have been. Rose’s potential for what he could do in the NBA was endless. Both he and NBA fans were robbed.

Maybe his career isn’t done. Maybe Rose is just going through a rough patch, doubting if a spot as a role player is worth weeks and months of rehab. Like when he took his leave of absence in New York last year, Rose and his camp have been quiet. He hasn’t really posted directly about the absence on social media.

Fans are still behind Rose. But is Rose behind himself?

During his breakout year, writers and pundits often compared Rose to Stephon Marbury. In the year before his ACL tear, Rose posted nearly identical numbers to Marbury. So the comp was completely fair.

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Now the two are being compared for a different reason; both stars cut down early by injury. Marbury played in the NBA until he was 31 before taking over China. Rose is already a fan favorite overseas. Maybe he can do the same thing?