After tearing his ACL during Game 1 of a playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers last season, many people assumed the star point guard would fly through recovery and lead the Chicago Bulls to another deep postseason run. That was not the case. Rose never saw game action during the entire 2012-13 regular season or postseason, and he drew criticism from fans who thought he was being selfish. Well, he was.
“I’m not a selfish guy at all, but having this injury and knowing what I had to go through and knowing that I had to be smart, this is something that I had to be selfish with,” Rose said in an interview with Bulls TV. “I couldn’t worry about anyone else but myself and my health.”
Rose never ruled out a return during the 2012-13 campaign, but he said he wouldn’t take the court until he was physically and mentally 100 percent. Unfortunately for Rose and Bulls fans, the Miami Heat ended Chicago’s season in the Eastern Conference semifinals before Rose reached full health.
“It was hard,” Rose said of missing the entire season. “One of the hardest things I’ve had to go through in my life. After surgery, when you start running … when you have an injury like this, there is stages you have to go through, I’m still going through my stages. I’m not done yet, but this is the most I’ve ever worked on my craft and the most focused I’ve ever been in my NBA career.”
With Rose in the final stages of rehabilitation, the 24-year-old is eyeing an October return to his hometown team and hopes to lead the Bulls to their first NBA championship since 1998.
“Me saying it is something totally different,” he said. “I think me going on the court and showing them and letting them know it was the right decision.”
Watch Rose’s full interview with Bulls TV in the video below.
