Derrick Rose’s latest return isn’t going smoothly, but the team is still winning. Rose says he understands why the media and fans in Chicago are hard on him, but he can’t worry about it.
“I can’t pay no attention to it,” he said. “It’s going to always be there. Even if I make it through the season healthy, my first playoff game is going to be like, ‘OK, this is a new journey. Is he going to be healthy through the playoffs?’ So it’s fine. Even if I play the whole year and I don’t get injured again, next year it’s going to be the same thing. So I can’t get mad at it; it’s just the way people think. Just people’s opinions about the situation.
“That’s Chicago, man, I’m used to it,” Rose said. “Chicago is a hard place to play, I know that. They just want to see good basketball. They’re just good basketball fans so I can’t get mad at them.”
I think it bothers him more than he lets on. The only way to change that is to stay healthy and perform at a high level. That is something he has struggled to do for the last two years.