Derrick Rose Is Now in Select Company

Published on 26-Feb-2015 by Alan Adamsson

Basketball - NCAA Mens    NCAA Basketball Daily Review

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Derrick Rose Is Now in Select Company

On the bright side, Derrick Rose will be used to the routine.

It's the sort of experience that would get a knowing but cringing nod from the likes of Bill Walton, Brandon Roy, Grant Hill, Penny Hardaway, Ralph Sampson, Yao Ming, and other NBA elites whose careers were abbreviated by pesky knees.

Rose became part of a double dose of disappointment on the Chicago sporting scene when his meniscus ripped for a third time, possibly on this play against Milwaukee on Mon 23 Feb:

Yes, Rose popped up and continued after a short moment, but that's what can happen with meniscus tears. Unless they're severe rips, they won't be more noticeable than a minor tweak. The only problem is, they don't un-tweak, which becomes annoyingly evident a short time afterward.

Rose's recovery time, then, will depend on his procedure.

His first bout with knee injuries came in the 2012 playoffs. That was an ACL tear; unlike a meniscus, an ACL injury makes its presence known immediately:

Rose's second knee injury was to the meniscus, an experience that he now says will give him a better mental outlook this time around.

Clearly, though, what sports medicine needs right now is a knee-joint version of Tommy John surgery, a radical advance in surgical technique that adapts it to the wear and tear it endures. It's gonna take a player who realizes his career is in true jeopardy and is willing to be in the vanguard.

If any NBA player is close to facing such a decision, it's Derrick Rose.