Derrick Rose revealed that his condition is improving after sustaining a hamstring injury, but the Chicago Bulls superstar reiterated that he will not rush his return from the injury.
Rose, who hurt his hamstring during their 100-93 win over the Toronto Raptors on Thursday, said in an interview that he will remain cautious because his ailing hamstring is critical in regaining his old form, which he lost after sustaining two major knee injuries.
"For sure," Rose told ESPN when asked if he is planning to take a cautious approach in his recovery. "Especially when you have knee problems, or knee injuries. The hamstrings are huge in the process of coming back. You need them, they control everything, as far as decelerating, so I guess you need them a lot, especially with the way that I play."
Rose, who is averaging 18.0 points to go along with 5.4 assists and 2.8 rebounds, has already missed six games this season. In the past two seasons, the 26-year-old point guard played just 10 games due to an ACL tear in his left knee and torn meniscus in his right knee.
Bulls fans are already growing frustrated about Rose's health, but the former Most Valuable Player played down what his critics are saying about him, pointing out that he is just thinking about his long-term health.
"I'm thinking about long term. I'm thinking about after I'm done with basketball," Rose told ESPN Chicago. "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."
Miami Heat forward Luol Deng, who played almost five seasons with Rose in Chicago, came into his former teammate's defense, saying that fans should stop doubting Rose's commitment to the team.
"What he's doing now is, everyone can say what they want to say, but in the long run, they're gonna appreciate what he's doing," Deng told CSN Chicago. "It's just the way he said it didn't sound right. But what he meant is, I want to be there for my team down the stretch, that's really what it is."
