The news about Derrick Rose’s surgery today on his torn meniscus is a tragedy, not just for Chicago, but for the whole NBA. Though it is undeniably the best long-term decision for his career and the Chicago Bulls franchise, it totally changes the complexion of the Eastern conference and likely leads to Luol Deng and Carlos Boozer being traded.
Hopefully this is the last injury for D-Rose; his combination of strength, explosiveness, gracefulness and passion for the sport of basketball is unmatched.
We took a look back at recent NBA history to think about some other famous instances where other guards had their career derailed by knee injuries. Obviously it is a tough comparison, Rose was the youngest MVP ever, and a meniscus treatment is a relatively mild surgery to recover from.
Grant Hill
Okay okay, so Hill was mostly ravaged by ankle injuries, not knee, so this is a bit of an unnecessary digression right away. BUT! I think that Hill is both a scary cautionary tale and optimistic worst case example for Derrick Rose. Grant Hill was a phenomenal point forward for the Detroit Pistons, co-rookie of the year in ‘95 with Jason Kidd, and led the Pistons in all three categories (Points, Assists and Rebounds) twice in his first six years in the league.
He signed a blockbuster contract with the Magic in 2000, but a nagging ankle injury required surgery, and attempts to return too soon backfired. He ended up playing in only four games in his first season with the Magic, 14 games in his second and 29 in his third. In his fourth season, he didn’t play a single game (03-04).
He played several mostly healthy seasons with the Phoenix Suns 07-12, and was one of their most consistent players on both offense and D, was named a co-captain and was highly respected throughout the league.
Hopefully Rose doesn’t suffer the same lows as Hill did, but even if his injury luck stays terrible for a couple more years, he is only 25 and has plenty of time to carve out a career regardless of what happens to him.
Shaun Livingston
Though he is now Deron Williams’ back-up with the Brooklyn Nets, there was once a time when nobody thought Livingston would play basketball ever again. The 6’7” guard had drawn comparisons to Magic Johnson for the way his size created passing lanes and his willingness to use them. Drafted 4th overall by the LA Clippers in the 2004 draft straight out of high school, he learned in a bench role behind Sam Cassell, before developing into an integral contributor to what had been the best season in Clippers history in 05-06.
His
knee injury in 2007 is one of the most gruesome, devastating injuries in NBA history, tearing his ACL, PCL, lateral meniscus, spraining his MCL, dislocating his patella and tibia-femoral joint.
His long road back has included the D-League, multiple 10-day contracts, several trades and getting waived twice. The man is only 28 years old, but is on his 8th team. He seems to be playing well for Brooklyn so far, and I can only wish him the best of luck.
In his case, he had not established himself to the degree that Derrick Rose has, so he has had a tougher time earning and keeping roster opportunities. With Rose, the height of his skill levels have already been witnessed, and Chicago will definitely keep him to see how close he can approximate his former norm.
Gilbert Arenas
Agent Zero is what got me into following basketball. His Wizards scrapping with LeBron’s Cavs for three years in a row in the Eastern conference playoffs was a bitter, hype-filled rivalry. Arenas is even partially responsible for a revolution in NBA coverage, as his Internet-friendly relationship with the legendary blog FreeDarko helped expose and develop the NBA blogosphere. Nobody was as swagged out as Gilbert, to the point where he almost made those God-awful Wizards jerseys look cool.
But during his second straight season (06-07) averaging nearly 30ppg, he tore his Medial Cruciate Ligament (MCL), and recovery from the surgery made him miss most of the next season. He played eight games in March, and against the recommendations of his doctor, played in the playoffs against the Cavaliers.
He was on a minutes-restriction, and his athleticism was visibly limited during the series, to the point where, after three playoff games, he shut himself down for the season. During the rest of his career he sometimes demonstrated the flashes of unconscious and reckless brilliance that made Hibachi so popular, but inconsistencies plagued him and weakened explosiveness made him much less effective.
Obviously the gun incidents followed (and pooping in Andray Blatche’s shoe), but seeing how coming back too early from one injury impacted the rest of Arenas’ career has definitely been a consideration from the Rose camp and a factor in how cautious they have been with Derrick’s rehab.
Brandon Roy
The smooth guard was never dependent on explosiveness as he developed into one of the top shooting guards in the NBA. His mature game would hypothetically have aged beautifully, similar to Paul Pierce, as his genius lay in his manipulation of his defender with crafty dribbling and masterful control of tempo.
In 2010, he suffered a bone contusion on his right knee and MRIs showed a slight meniscus tear. Unlike Rose, Roy had a quick trimming surgery, which allowed him to rejoin the team in the first round of the playoffs with just eight days recovery time.
In the 2010-11 season, Roy’s knees were persistently sore, as a result of all the minutes logged through high school, college and the NBA. In January 2011, he received arthroscopic surgery on both of his knees to try and minimize pain and swelling going forward. After coming off the bench all season, and occasionally complaining about playing time, Roy went off twice during the playoffs against the Mavs.
After that season, Roy announced his retirement from the NBA due to lack of cartilage in his knees. A year later he tried to mount a comeback with the Minnesota Timberwolves, which stalled after 5 mediocre and painful (for us, to watch; for him, every aspect) games.
Dwyane Wade
Each of the past couple postseasons, Wade has looked like a shell of his prime self due to lingering knee soreness. After his sophomore season at Marquette (2002), he got surgery on his meniscus and had it removed, an operation which gave him a quick recovery time but leaves his femur and tibia more exposed to each other, leaving the bones to wear down and grind upon each other over time.
“My knee problems and the things I’ve dealt with started from that. That was [11] years ago and technology was different and the way you approach things was different. At that moment, if everyone looked ahead and said, ‘Dwyane’s going to have a 20-year career, maybe we should do something different,’ maybe I wouldn’t have [knee issues]. At that time it was to get me back on the basketball court and do what is best.” Wade to Brian Windhorst
Despite the surgery and bone-on-bone exposure, Wade has had a phenomenal career. He won a championship and Finals MVP in 2006 against the Mavericks, won two Olympic gold medals with Team USA, two more championships after recruiting LeBron to join him in Miami, and an overall stat sheet that undoubtedly puts him in the Hall of Fame and as one of the top five shooting guards of all time.
As frustrating as it was last season for us to wonder constantly if Derrick Rose would be coming back for the playoffs to help his Bulls challenge the menace of Miami, and as much as we hope he could return by the end of this season, past history has not been kind to athletic guards trying to return from knee injuries.
It is 100% in his best interest to play the long game, and for us as fans, it is better for us to be watching him play 10 years and longer from now than it would be for him to push himself at 70% through a playoff series now and have it forever lessen his ceiling.
Good luck Derrick, we miss you already.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Kanto Freestyle Breakfast
