Rose "Can't Breathe" for Justice

Saturday's Bulls loss to the Golden State Warriors exposed quite a few things.  Steve Kerr has done an incredible job in his first season as a head coach.  The Bulls might have trouble later this season if they can't adjust to offenses who love to move the ball quickly and often.  We were also reminded that Derrick Rose can take a stand on a social issue when he wants to.

Instead of his usual garb during pregame warmups, Rose wore an "I Can't Breathe" t-shirt in support of Eric Garner.  In case you've been ignorant of the news this week, a Staten Island grand jury chose not to indict a police officer who was caught on video giving a fatal chokehold to Garner, who was under arrest for selling loose, untaxed cigarettes.  The quote on the shirt is what Garner could be heard saying on the video.

Rose has taken stands on social issues in the past.  He's donated money to help at-risk teenagers, spoken out against violence in Chicago and even taken to Twitter to protest how a Chicago Public School teachers strike was bad for students.  So it's hardly a surprise that he would choose to say something about a hot national issue.  But this may be the loudest he's ever been when speaking about such things, even though he left the United Center without speaking to the media Saturday.

Joakim Noah stood beside Rose during a postgame interview.  He even went so far as to say more athletes should make social statements more often.  It was a sentiment recently echoed by Magic Johnson after LeBron James (who is backing Rose on this) made his own comments on the issue.  This call for justice seems to be echoed more at a time when athletes have been hesitant to speak out, possibly out of fear of alienating some people.

I'm not going to say whether the grand jury was right or wrong in their decision, but this, along with the Ferguson case, has brought out the activist in many people from civilians to professional athletes.  It can get tiring for a lot of people who are sick of all the shouting and accusations going on.  But in a country where free speech is protected, there is absolutely nothing wrong with people speaking out wherever and whenever they desire.  It's only wrong when people get violent with their actions.

Athletes speaking on these issues proves that no matter how much sports is an escape from real life, we can never really ignore what's going on.  No matter what profession you're in or how hard you work, you almost always find time to know about your world.  Social issues just happen to be the ones people are the most vocal over.  It's probably because people want true freedom and true justice in a country that is supposed to provide both.

Say what you want about Rose, but please don't attack his character over this.  I can't even tell you how many stupid things I've read in the Facebook comments sections of Rose stories.  People will find any reason to call for the Bulls to get rid of him, no matter what the story's content is.  If you consider yourself an intelligent fan, please think before posting something online about Rose so you don't come off as just another Internet whiner.

At least Rose is making headlines for something not involving injuries.  All we can hope for now is more stories that he's approaching his old form.  I might be attending Wednesday's game against the Brooklyn Nets.  If I do, I'll hopefully be able to come back here and report something positive.