Chicago Bulls point guard and former NBA MVP Derrick Rose thinks that there is a "good chance" he will return this season from a Feb. 27 surgery to fix a tear in his right medial meniscus.
However, when pressed several times on the topic, Rose hesitated in providing assurances.
The team announced a timetable for Rose's recovery of between four weeks to six weeks, which would place his return to the court between late in March to the middle of April. However, Rose himself has decided not to put a deadline for his return.
"Whenever I feel well, that's when I'll step back on the court," Rose said before the game against the Memphis Grizzlies on March 9.
Rose added that he felt good and was in a positive place. When he was asked whether he was ready to miss the remaining 2014-2015 NBA season if his knee does not recover as hoped, Rose said that he was feeling well enough to think there was a good chance that he will come back.
The surgery that Rose went through was the third such surgery on his knees in his career. Back in April 2012, Rose tore his left ACL, causing him to miss the entire 2012-2013 NBA season. Despite being cleared by doctors late within that season, Rose decided not to return because he said his body did not feel right.
Rose then tore his right medial meniscus in November 2013, causing him to miss 72 games in the 2013-2014 NBA season.
The third surgery came just as Rose was slowly regaining the form that established him as one of the most dominant players in the NBA, a distinction that earned him MVP honors in the 2010-2011 NBA season.
Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said that Rose was on schedule for his rehabilitation after the surgery, with the point guard already doing shooting, squats and conditioning exercises. However, Rose is not yet cleared to jump, with the timetable for Rose to resume full basketball activities still not set.
Rose's last game before his surgery was on Feb. 23 against the Milwaukee Bucks. However, Rose said that he may have injured the meniscus as early as Jan. 27 in a game against the Western Conference-leading Golden State Warriors, wherein Rose sank a buzzer-beater to get the Bulls the win.
Rose, who has a season average of 18.4 points on 40.7 percent field goal shooting, added that he will be giving it all once he steps back on the court, even if that time would be in the middle of the NBA's grueling playoffs.
For Chicago Bulls and Derrick Rose fans everywhere, hopes are that the return of the former MVP will catapult his team into championship contention.
