Rose’s latest rehab was especially rough.
Derrick Rose returned to the Chicago Bulls lineup last week after having knee surgery to repair his latest meniscus tear. Rose is still easing his way back in, but had a nice outing with 22 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists in 28 minutes against the Sixers over the weekend.
Reacting to his play over the weekend and how he feels now, here’s how Rose described his latest rehab treatment, via K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune:
“Hell,” Rose said when asked what the last six weeks were like. “Because you got to do rehab over again. Waking up at 7:30 every day and being there two hours before practice, beating everybody to the training room when you arrive to a city. You have to do two or three workouts every day. So the game, that’s kind of easy. For sure it’s easy.”
“It just feels good being put in those situations again,” he said. “It’s always a blessing when you come back to a team like this and they allow you to play the way that you play. I’m grateful for it. And I’m happy that I’m playing in the fourth quarter now.”
This obviously wasn’t Rose’s first rodeo. He suffered his first left ACL tear nearly two years ago when the Bulls were tied for the best record in the league. Rose was sidelined for the entirety of the 2012-13 season and just ten games into 2013-14, suffered a torn right meniscus. Rose reportedly started his rehab for this latest knee injury the day after it occurred.
Rose still might not be fully where he’d like to be physically, but at least he’s on the floor and attacking again. The minutes restriction on Rose and Joakim Noah is reportedly no more, and for good reason as the Bulls try to make the healthiest push they can going into the playoffs this week.
