The year's 2002. The Bulls are coming off one of their worst seasons in franchise history, winning 21 games and finishing with the worst record in the association. They are given the second overall pick in the NBA Draft, as a result of the NBA Draft Lottery. Looking to restore the team to prominence, General Manager Jerry Krause selects Naismith College Player of the Year Award winner and Duke standout point guard Jay Williams. Williams led the Blue Devils to win a National Championship the season before. Williams was bound to be a star in the league. His had incredible upside, and showed many signs of promise in his rookie season, recording a triple-double against the Nets. While the team had more rebuilding to do, us Bulls fans were optimistic about the future. We thought this guy was going to be great. He played well in his rookie year and we expected him to be the guy to return us to basketball greatness.
On June 19, 2003, Jay Williams crashed his motorcycle into a street light and his injuries included three torn ligaments in his left knee, including his ACL, a fractured pelvis, and a severed main nerve in his leg. The injury ended up costing him his career. For years, us Bulls fans asked the question: how good could he have been if he stayed healthy, and how good could the Bulls have been? A couple years later, the Bulls were back in the playoffs and stayed in the playoffs for a couple more years, but they never had anyone make the all-star team- something that hadn't been accomplished since Michael Jordan wore the red and black. During those years, NBA writers and experts thought the Bulls would be a contender and some picked them as a favorite to win the East. In actuality, they never were a complete contender because they were short of an all-star. We thought Jay Williams would have been that all-star, and if he had never gotten hurt, we might have had a championship team.
After three years of sub-par playoff performances, only managing to get out of the first round once, the Bulls missed the playoffs in 2008. With a 1% chance of winning the lottery, somehow we miraculously did it. Fans were split over who to pick. Many thought that because we already had Kirk Hinrich, we shouldn't pick Derrick Rose and instead select forward Michael Beasley from Kansas State. I explained to fans that we need a superstar, and Derrick Rose will be that guy. You know the rest of the story. The Bulls made the playoffs the next two years, then finished with the best record in the East the next two years. Rose won the Most Valuable Player award in 2011 for his outstanding performance, becoming the youngest MVP ever at the young age of 22. Last year Rose blew out his ACL and now the topic of debate has been when to bring him back from injury.
Back in January, Chris Broussard was talking about how good the Bulls have looked without Rose, and he said that Rose will most likely be coming back in early February and that the Bulls could beat the Heat in the playoffs. Right now it is the fifth of April and we have yet to see Rose play. Some people have grown impatient and are questioning his toughness. So, what is my stance on it?
Derrick Rose is one of the best players in the league, and he is our guy. In order for the Bulls to win championships, we need him. It pains me that he hasn't played yet. I honestly thought the Bulls were going to win the East last year if he had stayed healthy. I miss watching Derrick play. I love him. He's probably my favorite player in the association. I have his jersey. I want to be able to see him play right now. But I can't. If he says he's not ready, he's not ready. He's only 24. This isn't our last chance to win a title. While some may say him returning early and inspiring the team would be heroic, it would be stupid. If he isn't ready to play, don't force him to play. There's no reason to gamble here. He's coming off one of the worst injuries in sports and we don't want to see him get re-injured. We don't want to trade a quarter of a season for ten seasons of a Hall of Fame career. Recently Taj Gibson re-injured his knee, and he says it could have happened as a result of coming back too early. Look, I want to see Derrick Rose coming out of that tunnel, but there's no reason to risk anything. Even if it means losing in the first round of the playoffs, I'd rather make sure Rose is healthy. He's done so much for this team and for this city and we owe it to him to take it easy. No one should be mad at the man who I think is going to win us a championship in the near future.
There's no reason to rush this. In a few years, do we want to be looking back on what could have been for Derrick Rose? Much like the way we looked at Jay Williams' injury? Of course not. While we didn't rush Williams back, we still have learned from this situation. There's even more at stake here. We have a guy that's won an MVP already. He's a three-time all-star. He's got a Hall of Fame career ahead of him. Why risk it now?
So when do I think he should come back? When he says he's ready. And even then, I think they should think about shutting him down until next year. It pains me as much as it pains any other Bulls fan that we're in this situation, but we need to make the right choice and protect our star. It hurts not seeing him play, and it hurts that NBA 2K13 won't let us play as him in online or offline exhibition games. It hurts enough that we can't see him play but could guys at least let us play as him? It feels like they're rubbing it in, which isn't what they're doing, they're trying to make it realistic, but it'd be nice to at least be able to use him. But going back to my main point. Shut down Rose, keep him healthy, and eventually D-Rose will rise and get us that seventh championship.
Let me hear your thoughts in the comments, on my Facebook fan page or on Twitter @vellvita7. Thanks for reading.
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