Derrick Rose: “I probably would’ve still been a Chicago Bull” If Load Management Existed

Derrick Rose is one of those NBA stories that you wonder “What could have been.” Derrick Rose was the next best thing in the NBA back in 2011. He was the youngest player ever to win MVP in 2011. Then in 2012, Rose tore his ACL and was never the same again. He missed the entirety of the 2012-2013 season. He came back the next year but only playing 10 games before tearing his meniscus. He has continued to be plagued by injuries his whole career after that. Now with the Pistons, we have seen a fragment of vintage Derrick Rose before his injuries. But Rose raises an interesting hypothetical: What if load management existed back in 2011? Derrick Rose via NBC Sports Chicago:

“It was just a different time in the sports world, period. Now we have the term “load management.” I don’t think that I would’ve taken it as far as Kawhi, as far as like they’re really being cautious about his injury or whatever he has. But if load management would’ve been around, who knows? I probably would’ve still been a Chicago Bull by now. But it wasn’t around.”

Part of the cause of Rose’s injuries could be Tom Thibodeau’s coaching style where he would have his best players playing….a lot. He could have overworked Rose and that could have led him to be injured. The Spurs and more specifically Gregg Popovich practically invented load management as Popovich routinely rested his best players, maybe for this exact reason. Who could have known what would happen if Derrick Rose never got injured? How does the entire NBA landscape look if that never happened? I’m not saying that load management could have prevented this but one always has to wonder, if it could have helped. No need to focus on the past, I’m just glad Derrick Rose is playing well again.

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