READING DERRICK ROSE

     Last year as Derrick Rose sat out with a torn ACL his fans waited, when he was cleared for play by team doctors his fans waited, as the playoffs came nearer his fans waited and as the undermanned Bulls went on one of the most exciting, yet short lived playoff runs in recent memory the fans waited. Derrick Rose never addressed the situation or spoke on his return. We were only given glimpses into his mind frame and status through his brother Reggie. While many fans were okay with this, Rose’s silence and absence from the court caused a backlash to form against him, mostly from his fans. They felt let down, they felt that he was not who they thought he was, it had been a long season and to hear Rose address the situation himself probably would have helped everyone along. 

     This year, in light of the frenzy that surrounded Rose in the second half of last season, the NBA has amended their guidelines for players and specifically injured players. The league now requires them, among other things, to meet with media within a week of diagnosis (if physically able) and then address the media once a week for the duration of their injury once they’ve returned to practice.

     The rule may come to be known as the Derrick Rose rule (v2.0), but I imagine nobody was expecting to see him at the dais on crutches, falling victim to knee surgery once again, when the rule was written. It has been an unfortunate two years for Rose. Response has been wide ranging, from depressing to vitriol, but Derrick Rose has remained as positive as one can in light of everything. He seems motivated but has a wide perspective on how lucky he is to be where he is. He comes across with a sincerity that is hard to find today in the worlds of sports and entertainment. His perspective, confidence and positivity almost come across as borderline naivety which could cause a little of a bad taste in the mouths of some Bulls fans.

     Derrick has finally addressed the media in regards to his torn meniscus, recovery timeline, and goals for the rest of the season and playoffs. With potentially no game footage of Rose to look at until the playoffs an exploration of his press conference feels right, trying to peer into his mind, past the hopeful exterior of the NBA’s youngest MVP who’s just another kid from the south-side of Chicago playing for the home team.

:26 - "Frustrating"... no surprise there. Possibly the biggest understatement of the next 22 minutes.

1:35 - 90% chance is great, hopefully nobody criticizes him for making the right call here even if it keeps him sidelined all season.

1:52 - 2:23 - Derrick Rose is so real, this is him putting it into perspective right in front of us. Sincere, frank, and humble, if you're a                        Derrick Rose fan these are the attributes you've come to love.

2:24 - Business Man? Suspect point to make this quick Derrick.

2:28 - Seems like he kind of realizes maybe he went into that too quick, especially after last season.

2:31 - There he goes again, I can hear Handel's Sarabande queuing up. 

2:41 - These guys are losing it right now

3:03 - This is the first mention of it as a freak accident, which it was in a way, but everyone of course wants to know if that's all it was.

3:10 - TEN TIMES? One of the Swerskis just rolled over.

3:56 - Everyone was buddy. 

4:14 - I don't know man, knee surgery is knee surgery, especially when you're running point in the NBA. Thankful it's not another ACL                 but "not worried"?

4:21 - It's still a whole season lost Derrick.

4:48 - Hopefully this is just the dark turn in the first part of the saga that only makes you THINK it's in grave danger.

5:03 - This question seems almost irrelevant with the way Indiana is playing right now.

5:43 - This is really interesting only because it makes me question what Rose's motivation is when he's rehabbing. The drive of the                          competition is not in the front of his mind. Does Derrick Rose see basketball as his higher calling?

6:13 - He went through hell and has returned to us.

6:43 - It is promising to see how well Westbrook is playing since his miraculous early return from meniscus surgery, maybe this isn't so                 bad. Westbrook texting Rose also adds a humanist element to Westbrook that I don't usually think of, great stuff.

7:00 - "Let them hear my voice"

7:29 - I imagine Thibodeau and Bulls front office would not agree this is a good idea.

7:41 - So you would be interested in team U.S.A in a non-playing capacity? You agree it's a bad idea? You never play in the offseason?                   NEVER?

7:50 - Oh I heard someone bring up the playoffs... Oh okay, answer the question about why you don't play pickup.

8:03 - THERE WE GO, WHAT EVERYONE WANTS TO KNOW! We hang on baited breath Derrick...

8:10 - What is the right situation?

8:35 - Great question, attempting to address the issue of a player having two major surgeries to the same part of his body in two years.

8:50 - Not taking care of your body? What on earth were you doing?

9:20 - I guess what's so scary to everyone but Rose is exactly that, there was nothing he could do about the meniscus injury, it just                         happened. So what is to keep it or other things from just happening again?

9:45 - Another great question addressing the possible future of this Bulls team, mostly hinting at the free agency of Luol Deng I suspect.

9:50 - He hasn't even thought about that, in all honesty I believe him.

10:15 - Great answer, avoided that question nicely while giving a strong response showing support for the team at present.

10:38 - What position is that? Oh right... the underdog, couldn't care less, man this guy is great.

10:54 - Yes, we heard you the first time, you could tear it ten more times, please don't bring up the possibility again.

11:17 - Who are these people saying the Bulls should move on? An MVP is having meniscus surgery, he's not going away for 8-10                        years, he didn't head a network of illegal activity, he's not wearing a halo brace, he'll be back guys.

11:51 - He takes 34 seconds to think about this question, including having the question repeated. not sure if people are actually saying this             but he seems pretty shocked by and he genuinely considers the question, then answers appropriately.

12:24 - I'm honestly surprised it sometimes takes major injury for  players to adopt these practices into their routines, so beneficial and far             less taxing on the body.

12:40 - The meditative aspect of yoga is a really interesting point to bring up, but I like that he went there.

13:16 - Such a great response. Any Bulls fans that have had any doubts in this press conference so far hopefully find solace here.

15:36 - Hopefully this response doesn't become an allegory for the Bulls season, although it is highly likely it will.

16:14 - Rose seems like a really great teammate. All the Bulls do though, which is part of what makes this such a disappointment.

16:52 - Derrick seems like a genuinely positive person, I suppose thats an important virtue to attain after these past two years.

19:12 - I love his approach to the question about recruiting, it kind of acknowledges what a lame practice the consortment of players is in               regards to recruiting/teaming up. Derrick Rose is not scared of you.

20:00 - Again, the Bulls seem about as close knit as a team can which would make any of the key pieces leaving such a bummer. What                   kind of food do you imagine Noah brings? Or Deng? Boozer definitely just brings over like 50 wings and eats most of them,                     right?

20:25 - The Bulls, just some regular guys.


21:05 - At least he never plans on stopping, not that we doubted his desire, just good to hear.

21:36 - Watching him walk off on crutches just made that whole press conference real.