Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose will have surgery to repair a medial meniscus tear in his right knee on Monday in Chicago, according to Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau.
The surgery will be performed by Dr. Brian Cole, the same man who performed the ACL surgery on Rose in May of 2012.
“[He’s] headed back to Chicago today. He’ll have surgery [Monday]. Then we’ll have a better idea about what the time table will be,” Thibodeau said.
Thibodeau did not want to speculate how long Rose may be out.
There are two options as to the direction Rose and his doctors will decide to fix the knee. They could either remove the meniscus, or a portion of it, and Rose could be back on the floor in a matter of weeks. What seems more likely, according to a source will knowledge of the situation, is that Rose and the Bulls will decide to have the meniscus re-attached, which would put him out for upwards of four to six months.
While the first procedure would put him back on the court sooner, many players who have had that procedure, including Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade, say that it causes more problems later in a player’s career. According to the source, given Rose’s age (25) and the fact the Bulls have millions of dollars still wrapped up in his future, the likely scenario is that Rose and the organization will choose to take the longer approach with the hope that he can return to being the same player before his first knee injury.
“The big part is they won’t know [which surgery to perform] until they get in,” Thibodeau said. “So we’re hoping for the best. We of course feel very badly for Derrick. I talked to him at length last night. He’s in good spirits. About as well as can be expected under the circumstances. And he’s already thinking about his rehab and typical Derrick — concerned about his team, his teammates. But that being said, we can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We’re the Chicago Bulls. We have one goal, that’s to win. And I believe we have the personnel in that locker room to get it done.”
Thibodeau said he expects Rose to make a full recovery but acknowledged there is disappointment throughout the locker room.
