Derrick Rose admitted he had to be "selfish" last season in regard to returning from his injury. As he continues to rehab his surgically-repaired knee, a video from TMZ caught Rose appearing to walk with a limp.
Rose sustained an ACL tear during a playoff game in May 2012. He underwent knee surgery shortly thereafter and has been rehabbing since. When team doctors medically cleared Rose to play, many wondered why the one-time league MVP didn't return in the playoffs to help his injury-depleted team.
He discussed it at length in an interview posted on the team's website (via the Chicago Tribune).
"I'm not a selfish guy at all," Rose said. "But having this injury and knowing what I had to go through and being smart, this is something I had to be selfish with," Rose said. "I couldn't worry about anyone else but myself and my health."
Missing last season wasn't easy, and it wasn't from lack of effort.
"It was hard, one of the hardest things I've ever had to go through in my life," he said. "... Every day I was working out like my leg is going to feel better. I was pushing myself every day, eating right, just trying to take care of my body so I could be out there as soon as possible.
"It didn't happen."
Rose told Rachel Nichols of TNT in May that he's struggling with "muscle memory" in his knee, which affects the way his knee feels and how he shoots. In the interview with the team website, he alluded to still not being 100 percent.
"After surgery when you start running ... when you have injury like this there are stages you have to go through. I'm still going through my stages. I'm not done yet. This is the most I ever worked on my craft and most focused I've ever been in my NBA career."
Despite the outside noise, Rose said his teammates were supportive of him taking his time to return - even when the team struggled with its own injuries in the playoffs. The Bulls fell to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Rehab and a championship are Rose's two priorities. By returning next season and resuming his winning ways, he can show fans that missing last season was the right move to make.
TMZ posted a video on Tuesday of Derrick Rose appearing to walk with a limp. While the video is a brief and hardly definitive, it's worth watching. Is Rose still limping? It's worth noting Rose tore the ACL in his left knee.
