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Beneath The Surface is peeling back the layers of the onion we call sports.
Derrick Rose has an obligation.
Rose is injured (again) and the 2014-15 future of the Bulls is hinging on him logging minutes. He is a warrior, and the fans want to see their warrior. Is winning a championship his obligation to the fans at the cost of a Hall of Fame career?
This season he is being paid over $6,000,000 more than the next highest paid player on the Chicago Bulls’ roster. In his first two years, aside from LeBron, he was arguably the most exciting player in the league. And in 2011 Rose won the MVP.
But just as it seemed he was ascending to greatness—the house was torn down.
A combined 240 games made up Rose’s first four years. In the last three? Ninety-five games.
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Does Derrick Rose have an obligation to his teammates and the fans to come back even if he’s less than 100 percent if it means they can have a legitimate shot at playing for the title?
If he does then it could ruin any chance he has of being an all-time great.
Rose is the best player on the Bulls’ roster. Without him they may still have a chance, but it’s significantly lower. And an 80 percent Derrick Rose is still better than 80 percent of the league when they’re at a hundred.
And if being a professional athlete is really all about winning championships, then it seems like an obvious choice. He’s got an obligation to do whatever it takes to win his team a championship when they have a window of opportunity. If that means playing hurt to win big games—he gets paid to do just that, right?
Professional athletes are modern day gladiators. Fans pile into arenas to see stars like Rose, LeBron, Kobe, and Durant. They want to see their heroes fight—and win.
But come back too early and it could be the end of his career.
The fans could lose yet another gladiator to injury forever.
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Kevin Durant is in the same predicament. Durant broke his foot, took time off, and came back too early. With stress on an already weak foot he bent the screw emplaced by his surgery and it all came tumbling after. Now with his season officially over the long-term future of Durant is in question. His career could go the way of Doug Collins.
Collins was a shooting guard/small forward drafted out of Illinois State (1st pick overall) in 1973 by Philadelphia. Collins sports four All-Star appearances and played on the ‘72 Olympic Team for the United States.
During the ‘78-79 season Collins suffered the same injury as Durant. Collins ended the season having only played 47 games and after trying to play through the injury his career ended in early retirement.
Collins played through injury because—well, that’s what you were supposed to do.
If Derrick Rose gets healthy it’s easy to imagine him having a career like that of Carmelo Anthony or Steve Nash. Play the game hard, be one of the best players in the league, make a ridiculous amount of money, and retire after 14 or 15 seasons. Recording, by all standards, a fantastic career.
But this is where the obligation dilemma sets in. Is Rose a warrior, here to do the bidding of the fans? Or is he a man fulfilling his dream?
Those two questions have completely different answers. One is rational and the other irrational.
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The rational thing to do is take time to heal until you’re 100 percent and have mitigated as much risk as possible for future injury. If Rose comes back in the first round of the playoffs, plays two games, then injures himself again, his career is likely over. The rational thing for Rose to do is take his time.
But competitiveness is irrational.
In the 2013-14 playoffs Joakim Noah played five games with Plantar Fasciitis and averaged almost 13 rebounds over those five games. If you’ve never had Plantar Fasciitis let me tell you, it’s excruciating.
If I’m Joakim Noah looking at Derrick Rose and all of his time off, the question of whether Rose is obligated to do whatever it takes to help them win a title might look strikingly biased. He might be thinking Rose needs to come back if he thinks he can at all help the team improve its chances of winning a title trophy. And Noah’s career resume would look a lot better with a title on it.
Noah is standing in as the warrior who’s keeping the fans at bay.
Rose could attempt to come back and regain the title as the gladiator of Chicago, but at what cost?
If Rose were given a choice the day he was drafted that he could play for two titles (not knowing if he’d win either one of them) but only play in the league for seven years, or have Reggie Miller’s career, he should take Reggie Miller’s career without question.
In his 18 years Miller played over 1,300 games, made the second most 3-pointers in a career ever (only to be surpassed by Ray Allen) and made over $105 million on salary alone.
But he didn’t win a championship.
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The irrational side of sports drives athletes to do two things, be the best in the world in their sport and win. If you can only do one, then at all cost, win.
Russell Westbrook is doing everything in his power to accomplish both right now. In the last four weeks Westbrook has produced numbers that are staggering. In March he has posted an average of over 38 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists per game—while wearing a facemask.
Westbrook has been doing everything he can to keep his team alive in hopes that Durant would come back for the playoffs. He’s been Oklahoma City’s warrior. And now with Durant out for the season and no time table to speak of, can he continue to battle? Was the strain on his body worth it?
Derrick Rose and Kevin Durant have an obligation to themselves to continue to be the best basketball player they can be (and when they’re healthy they’re two of the best in the world). And if continuing to be two of the best in the world is what they want, then it doesn’t make sense for them to come back before they’re absolutely confident healing is complete.
Win a few games now or many in the coming years.
Everyone is talking about the inner workings of Derrick Rose’s surgery and how his healing is coming along. Fans expect him to play as soon as he can. They want to see their star. But the question jogging through his mind the most is; do I have an obligation to my team to play hurt if it means we can win a championship?
Or rather, do I fight to the death so we can maybe hold a trophy high?
If he fights they might win the championship. His body might handle it and he could live to fight another day. Maybe.
He could also wait and be sure he’s really ready to go and do everything in his power to continue to be the best basketball player he can be for as long as his body will allow him. He could guarantee he lives to fight another day and pick his battles wisely.
Fans don’t always care what the stakes are—but he has an obligation to care. Because if he shows up for battle unprepared, it could be his last one ever. And then he’ll no longer be a warrior. He’ll be a blip on the radar.
Derrick Rose has an obligation, but it’s not to his team. It’s to himself.
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Photo: Flickr/adifansnet
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