Derrick Rose has been a familiar face on this blog, which isn’t exactly something any athlete wants considering we specialize in talking about injuries, surgeries and the rehabilitation process. We haven’t ran the numbers, but it seems likely that Rose is our most frequently blogged-about athlete, as we’ve discussed his injuries roughly ten times over the years. So when we received an alert that said Rose was back with the Knicks after ankle surgery, we couldn’t help but think about the interconnectedness of his injuries to one another.
In today’s blog, we take a closer look at the timeline of Rose’s injuries and what we said about the injuries at the time, because it seems likely that some of his future injuries could have been avoided had other problems been addressed earlier.
Derrick Rose Injury Timeline
Here’s a look at some of Rose’s injuries, our blogs on the injuries, and our discussion on what he may want to consider for recovery. The following dates are from when we wrote about Rose’s injuries
April 12 2012 – Derrick Rose’s Injuries All Related According to Orthopedic Surgeon
Dr. Silverman countered head coach Tom Thibodeau’s comments on Rose’s injury history after the guard suffered a sprained ankle and pulled groin during the season. Thibodeau said he didn’t think the injuries were related, to which Dr. Silverman wrote:
“Derrick Rose has an unstable ankle. This means his ankle wants to roll out to the side. Having a stable core is one of the most important ways to prevent all injuries, especially ankle injuries. A groin injury weakens the core. Derrick landed on the other player’s foot and his now weaker core was too exhausted to keep his balance. Not related—I don’t think so.”
April 30 2012 – Derrick Rose ACL Injury Caused by Ankle Instability
Not even three weeks later, Rose ended up tearing the ACL in his knee. Dr. Silverman acknowledged that the underlying ankle injury likely put Rose at a higher risk for injury.
“This injury was predictable. Rose doesn’t have a stable leg to land on. In the video, he lands putting enormous stress on his left ankle. We all know he sprained his right ankle this year, and he also sprained his left ankle last year. It’s this ankle instability that caused the ACL injury.”
“Rose comes down onto a flat surface and decelerates rapidly from full speed to 0. He doesn’t trust his left ankle so he juts his hip out and angles his knee inwards towards the center of his body. This maneuver creates artificial stability for the left ankle but places his ACL in its most vulnerable position. As he decelerates from the landing, the ACL tries to stop his leg bone from sliding forward on the knee but it’s just too much to take and POP—the ACL ruptures. This is the perfect example of a classic ACL rupture.”
March 13 2018 – Will Derrick Rose’s Knees And Ankles Hold Up In Minnesota?
When Rose joined the Timberwolves, we took a closer look at his lengthy injury history and wondered if his body would be able to hold up in Minnesota. Perhaps most notably, Dr. Silverman again mentioned that the underlying ankle issue was never truly addressed, saying:
“Rose hasn’t been the same player since he underwent ACL reconstruction, and he has yet to really have his ankle instability treated. It’s not surprising that he continues to have ankle and foot problems, and while we’re hoping for the best for him in Minnesota, I’d bet that he’s still dealing with loose ligaments in his ankles. We’ll keep a close eye on his ankles as he tries to help Minnesota hold onto a playoff spot this season, and Derrick, if you want someone to take a closer look at your ankles, our office isn’t too far away! Best of luck the rest of the way.”
November 7 2018 – Derrick Rose Again Dealing With Ankle Pain
Again, Dr. Silverman noted that there was some concern about Rose’s ankles after he was experiencing pain and soreness following a 50-point outburst. Here’s what he had to say:
“For the greater part of a decade I have been discussing Rose’s’ left ankle troubles. It is the cause of his ACL injury back when he played for the Chicago Bulls. He has undergone multiple knee revision procedures to treat the meniscus troubles, another problem that develops from rotational injuries around the knee. This rotation happens because he’s guarding his unstable left ankle. I am not surprised after his amazing 50-point showing in the middle of last week that he would overstress his left ankle and be sidelined for games. Hopefully somebody figures out Rose’s primary driving lower extremity problem and fixes it.”
January 29 2019 – Derrick Rose Would Benefit From Ankle Ligament Surgery
After missing time with an ankle injury, Rose admitted that he was dealing with an ankle ligament issue. As you might imagine, Dr. Silverman recommended having the ligaments surgically addressed, saying:
“We understand why Rose wants to manage the condition with conservative care during the season, but if he really wants to get healthy and continue his career, he should opt for offseason ankle ligament reconstruction surgery. The surgery has a phenomenal rate of success, and it virtually eliminates these recurrent ankle sprains that are causing this lingering pain.”
“I think Derrick Rose has been the most blogged about athlete on this site, outside of maybe Steph Curry, but the common theme between those two is that they tend to opt for conservative treatment instead of taking more time off and truly fixing the problem with surgery. I understand when the season is on the line that it may make sense to look to the short term, but during the offseason, Rose needs to have the surgery performed. If he doesn’t, injuries are going to continue to plague his career, and that can cause problems for more than just his foot.”
Today – These aren’t even all the blogs we’ve written on Rose, but they are some of the more memorable, and they suggest that he likely would have benefited from ankle ligament stability surgery long ago. It’s disheartening to hear that it took another ankle injury for him to opt for the surgery, but hopefully he’ll finally be able to regain confidence in his ankle. We can’t help but wonder how his career would have played out had he been able to stay healthy, and we believe some of those subsequent injuries could have been prevented had the underlying ankle issue been addressed long ago. As always, we wish Rose all the best with his recovery and rehabilitation.