It seems strange to say, but Derrick Rose is actually pretty lucky his latest injury is nothing more serious than a broken face, especially considering all the knee problems that have hobbled him the past few years and threatened to derail his once-promising career entirely. So it was even more good news today when, following successful surgery to repair the left orbital fracture he suffered on the very first day of training camp this week, the team announced that his timetable for return is approximately two weeks. Here’s what his new coach Fred Hoiberg had to say about the situation Wednesday. Via Steve Aschburner of NBA.com:
“He’s still in great spirits,” said Hoiberg, who said he texted with Rose Tuesday evening but had not spoken with him after surgery. “It’s not a structural injury. When he comes back ready to go, he should be able to go right back into 100 percent. Where if you have something going on with one of your other body parts, it’s going to be gradually [getting] back.”
Unfortunately, Rose will miss the rest of training camp and probably most of the pre-season, which kicks off Tuesday in Chicago against the Milwaukee Bucks. The good news is that he’s expected to make a full recovery. The bad news is that that’s not the only Derrick-Rose-related topic turning heads in Chi-town these days.
The civil suit levied against Rose for the alleged gang-rape of a former girlfriend just keeps taking left turns into bizzaro-land, and if that wasn’t bad enough, when addressing reporters on media day, Rose – unprompted, mind you – went and brought up the topic of his free agency, which is two years away.
All in all, it’s been a pretty rocky start to the 2015-2016 season for the Bulls and their former MVP, and the media firestorm that has accompanied it isn’t going to flame out any time soon. That could prove to be Chicago’s biggest adversary this year.
