Derrick Rose opens up about the missed Olympic opportunity in the latest episode of “The Return” documentary – NBA News
Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose has had a rough summer to say the least.
Rose battled injuries all season long to ensure that the Bulls finished the regular season tied for the best record in the league, and a match-up with the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals seemed imminent. However, Rose
tore his ACL in the first game of the playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers, and was sidelined for the rest of the season. While sitting on the bench, he saw the Bulls lose to the Sixers in the first round.
Knowing that the Bulls had a real chance of clinching the NBA championship this past season, Rose is now travelling that long and often demoralizing road of recovery, and is expected to return to action sometime next year. In the
meantime, Rose can only imagine how the season would have played out had he not been injured. Another opportunity that the Bulls talisman missed out on because of the injury was playing in the 2012 London Olympics, which would have been his first.
In the latest video from the Adidas documentary titled “the Return”, which is following Rose as he recovers and rehabilitates from his injury, Rose talks about missing the Olympics.
"My biggest fight right now, I would have to say, is just staying focused. Being patient because I'm impatient. If you think about it, I never stop. This is the only time in my life where I actually stopped playing basketball.
Even in high school I was always going. Then thinking I was going to be able to play in the Olympics this year, it just killed my dreams,” said Rose in the video.
Rose was a member of the US squad that won gold medal in the 2010 FIBA World Basketball Championship, averaging 7.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. He was in the preliminary squad for the London Olympics and would
have easily made the final cut owing to his talent, had he not been sidelined due to injury.
The US team went on to win the gold medal at the Games by defeating Spain in the final. Rose, 23, has many years ahead of him in the NBA and will get the opportunity to possibly compete in two more Olympics, if he manages to stay
healthy.
Near the end of the video, Rose talkED about the hope and courage that has made him a household name in Chicago, and looks forward to the future.
“This injury gives me time to appreciate the people that's around me. Be grateful for what I have. Just live life. Hard work pays off, and I seen it actually pay off the year that I won MVP. I worked extremely hard, so I know that
all this stuff is going to pay off one day,” said Rose.
Tags: