Following an MRI, the Chicago Bulls announced that point guard Derrick Rose will undergo surgery to repair a medial meniscus tear in his right knee, marking the third time since 2012 that he’ll miss significant time due to injury.  On 12 December 2011, Rose signed a five-year contract extension for an assumed $94,314,376. Just a year removed from an MVP season in which he led the Bulls to their first Eastern Conference finals appearance since the Michael Jordan era, fans had reason to be hopeful. The youngest MVP in league history, everything about Rose’s game seemed to be on the upswing. His scoring average had increased each of his first three seasons, his free-throw percentage was steadily improving, and he was quickly becoming one of the league’s premier 3-point threats.  What followed, however, was the slow destruction of the league’s brightest young talent.  Though many point to the now-infamous ACL tear during Game 1 of the Bulls’ first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers as the beginning of Rose’s end, the truth is his physical decline began much earlier.  During the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season, Rose missed 27 regular-season games as the result of a number of smaller injuries. On 11 January 2012, Rose was sidelined with a bruised toe. The following month, he missed a stretch of give games due to back spasms. In March, he missed 12 games with a strained groin. On 8 April, in what was billed as his comeback game, Rose sustained a sprained ankle. Later that month, he injured his right foot. Bulls coach Tom Thibideau opted to sit Rose, along with Kyle Korver and Luol Deng, for the regular-season finale. In his next game, Rose tore his ACL in his left knee, and sat out the entirety of the 2012-13 season.  Rose made his return in the Bulls’ 2013 season-opening loss against the reigning NBA champion Miami Heat. He finished with 12 points, four assist and one rebound, shooting just 4-for-15 from the field. Over his first 10 games, Rose averaged a career-low 18.4 points per game. On 23 November, Rose left a game against the Portland Trail Blazers with a medial meniscus tear to his right knee, ending his season. And now, 57 games into the 2014-15 season, Derrick Rose has once again found himself sidelined.  This isn’t the end of Derrick Rose. Derrick Rose, at least in the incarnation romanticized by coaches and fans, ended when the Bulls were eliminated in the 2011 Eastern Conference finals. Since then, Rose has been a shadow of his former self. He has maintained the heart of a champion, but his body, with all its potential, has refused to cooperate.  None of this is news to the point guard.  “I know a lot of people get mad when they see me sit out or whatever, but I think a lot of people don’t understand that when I sit out it’s not because of this year,” Rose told reporters in November. “I’m thinking about long term. I’m thinking about after I’m done with basketball having graduations to go to, having meetings to go to.  “I don’t want to be in my meetings all sore or be at my son’s graduation all sore just because of something I did in the past. I’m just learning and being smart.”  Reaction to Rose’s comments was swift. TNT commentator and Hall of Fame power forward Charles Barkley tore into the injury-riddled point guard.  “That was stupid,” Barkley said on Inside the NBA. “Derrick Rose is a great player, he’s a great kid. Love his mom. That was stupid. You know, Ernie, we’re so blessed. I limp around but I go home to a big ol’ mansion. There’s people who work harder than Derrick Rose who go home to a shack.  “There are consequences to what we do for a living. We got the best life in the world. I’m a poor black kid from Leeds, Alabama who grew up in the projects – and listen, I don’t mind limping around because when I go home, there’s a big ol’ house. I got good sheets – don’t know the thread count, but they’re good. I got a big ol’ car. I never have to worry about my bills. There are pros and cons to what we do for a living. Derrick Rose is making $20 million a year. He got a couple bad knees. That’s disrespectful to maids, people who are in the army who go out and kill people and get killed. They got no arms and no legs. As much as I like Derrick Rose, that is just flat-out stupid.”  Now, though, after sustaining yet another injury, Rose’s comments sound less like the long-term plans of a young star, and more like that of a man who knows that he’s on his last legs.  In a November article for Psychology Today, sports psychology consultant Laura M. Miele-Pascoe, PhD took a look at the concept of the “injury-prone athlete,” invoking the name of one of Chicago’s most famously injury-prone athletes of the past 20 years: Mark Prior.  “There is a substantial list of athletes who were filled with talent but could never stay healthy long enough to reach their potential: Greg Oden, Mark Prior, Darren McFadden.”  As any Cubs fan can tell you, watching Prior pitch during the 2003 season was like watching an artist at work. With an ERA of 2.43 and 18-6 record, the duo of Prior and Kerry Wood served as the foundation of a rotation that would bring the team tantalizingly close to a World Series berth.  Like Rose, Prior’s career took a swift turn just as his star began to rise. As the result of an Achilles tendon injury, Prior missed the first two months of the 2004 season, finishing with a 6-4 record. Prior began the 2005 season on the disabled list. In May, Prior sustained a compound elbow fracture after being struck by a line drive. After an abysmal start to the 2006 season, Prior again found himself on the disabled list, just 25 years old, never to take the field again.  In Psychology Today, Miele-Pascoe outlined the mental factors that go into athletes like Prior, Rose, McFadden and Oden.  “For athletes like Derrick Rose, they sometimes begin to play in fear because in the back of their minds, they may be worrying about re-injury,” Miele-Pascoe wrote. “Of course, physical elements are major factors in talking about repeat injuries, but the mental side of rehabilitation is often overlooked.  “For example, if an athlete subscribes to the mentality that they are injury-prone, then there is a high probability for re-injury to occur. In dealing with psychological stress and frustration, an athlete may not play to their pre-injury capacity. The mind and body work together, and if the subconscious is in fear of re-injury, then the body will react, thus potentially putting the player at risk. With this plaguing the back of their minds, it is possible for the muscles to tense up, which may increase the chances of injury.”  From a fan’s perspective, the decline of Derrick Rose becomes doubly tragic once you consider his backstory. Rose grew up in Englewood, one of the most dangerous neighborhoods on the South Side of Chicago. In his sophomore year at Chicago’s Simeon Career Academy, Rose was awarded a spot on the Parade Third Team All-American list. The following year, he was an EA Sports Second Team All-American, and the following year, Rose was named to the McDonald’s All-American team. Rose played one season at the University of Memphis – carrying them all the way to the national title game – before declaring himself eligible for the 2008 NBA Draft.  Despite having just a 1.7% chance of landing the first pick in the draft, the Chicago Bulls drew the coveted top spot, giving them the opportunity to bring one of the best players to ever emerge from the city back home.  His story was the stuff of the most sentimental Hollywood-style sports film. The shining star brought back home to shine. Sadly, that star burned too bright, fading much too soon.
The injury-plagued point guard’s NBA career might not be finished, but his days as the centerpiece to a championship team look to be