If you're a Bulls' or Lakers' fan, it might be time to face reality....The reality that your superstars might need to give it up.
Kobe Bryant had been in the league since he got out of high school, he's currently 37 years old, and has missed quite a number of games in the last few years due to injury. Bryant is old, but to those who are true fans of his know that he is similar to Jordan in that anything less than a championship is failure. And if you pay attention to basketball you'll know that the Lakers have missed the playoffs for the last few years. Another issue is that Kobe is not allowing room for other superstars to thrive on the Lakers because he is hard to work with and/or makes it hard for the front office to pay them because of his contract. Which in turn makes it difficult for the team to grow and get back to winning.
As far as Derrick Rose, he's INJURY PRONE. It just came out that he has a left orbital fracture and will be out for an estimated two weeks. I personally can't even remember the last time he finished a season, but if I was in the Bulls front office I would be thinking of a way to get out his contract. That thinking would then lead me to start looking into future draft picks, free agents, and possible trades to replace him. Yes, Rose has a lot of talent but that talent is a waste if he can't be used.
Breakdown of Rose's injuries:
4/30/2012: ACL Tear
-First regular season game 10/29/2013
11/22/2013: Medial Meniscus tear in Right Knee
-A little less than a month after first regular season game
2/24/2015: Re-tears Medial Meniscus
-5/8/2015: Hits game winning shot in Eastern Conference Semifinal Game 3
9/30/2015: Surgery to repair left orbital fracture
-He's getting paid 41.4 million through 2017
Information from: http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=13786765
My biggest concern from that timeline is the time in between the meniscus and hitting that game winning shot, but of course I'm not a doctor or have any medical knowledge. All I know is I hope he did give it a chance to rest and will give it time to rest while he's healing from his most recent injury. But, hopefully for Bulls fans they will get to see their superstar play a whole season.
If you'd like to hear actual analysts talk about Rose's most recent injury Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless spoke about it today on First Take and will most likely be on Sports Center for the next few days. But, that's all I have for now before the NBA pre-season starts.
