Between Rose, the Bulls, his teammates, other players and “sources”, this has been a textbook way of how not to handle a superstar coming back from injury.
This could have been so easy.
I would have ruled Derrick Rose out for the entire season at the All-Star break, even if I knew it was a chance that he could come back at any time.
That would have stopped all the questions about his return and if he did by chance come back, he would have been seen as hero. They could have said he had a setback or used any plausible excuse and people would have bought it, because Rose at the time wasn’t a guy people would question.
Instead they left the carrot dangling and now it has gotten out of control. So when reports come out like this from Aggrey Sam of CSN Chicago people just groan.
Despite erroneous reports that he was set to dress for Game 3, according to a person with knowledge of the situation, the former league MVP won’t return to the court in the series, something Thibodeau is aware of.
However, at the outset of the second round, Rose did strongly consider coming back, but ultimately decided against it, another source said.
There is no reason anyone should be talking about this. I know this sounds cold, but the best thing for the Bulls is for the Heat to win the next two games, so they can focus on next year.