Red, White, Blue, But No Rose

Since tearing his ACL, Derrick Rose has prided himself as a player who does what's best for his long-term health.  Because of his rather inconsistent play since, the jury is still out on whether that's really been the best course of action.  Regardless, the more non-NBA basketball he plays, the greater the risk that the Bulls' investment in him will be damaged further.  That may have factored into his decision to skip the Team USA mini-camp in Las Vegas next week, where only attendees will be considered for the 2016 Olympic team.

Jimmy Butler will be one of 34 players at the camp, but he'll be the only Bull representative.  While he's just beginning his pursuit of Olympic gold, Rose has effectively ended his.  Rose has always wanted a gold medal and playing for Team USA at last summer's world championships seemed to indicate he would be ready to do so.  Instead, it was simply a step in shaking off his long layoff from his first meniscus tear.  Now, he'll continue to work on his game by focusing squarely on how he can help lead the Bulls to a championship.

In the past, I might have been disappointed by this.  Rose is as close to a superstar as we've had since Jordan and naturally, that would mean I'd want to see him accomplish as much as possible.  He earned his way to the top and all it took to set everything back was one major injury followed soon after by another.  Anything to earn those spoils back would have been nice to see.

But now, we've seen that Rose's superstardom is flashy at best.  This past season was filled with inconsistent play, sitting while struggling, trying to develop a three-point shot that's not really there and above all, not giving the proper results when the Bulls were on the brink against a weakened Cleveland in the playoffs.  This should have been the year the Bulls got over that hump.  Instead, Rose couldn't deliver what Stephen Curry, Chris Paul and John Wall are all far more likely to do.

To be fair, this is Rose's first offseason since just after his MVP year that he's been able to focus squarely on his game and not rehabbing a knee.  Trying to balance both at the same time can be difficult, even for someone with his talent.  He may not have been totally comfortable last year and re-tearing his meniscus only hampered his progress once more.  To say he's been riding a long roller coaster is an understatement.

So I'm fine if Rose feels he has to give up his Olympic dream.  He's no longer your typical invincible NBA star.  He has shown to be very human and is prone to break down anytime.  We have no way of knowing how long he'll remain healthy, but we should be more comfortable with him only doing it in a Bulls uniform rather than our country's colors.

In some respects, the timing is perfect for Rose to decide not to attend the camp.  A year ago, before we really knew what the post-injury version of him would be, people would be split on whether or not he should sit out.  Now, there's barely a whisper about this.  Of course, all the talk about whether Patrick Kane committed a serious crime seems to be diverting the city's attention away from this particular story.

Instead, we'll continue to let Rose be so he can be in proper shape for the season.  Wherever he's working out, give him as much privacy as possible.  We don't need someone in his camp to say the wrong thing to the wrong person and create yet another distraction for him.  As we've learned, that can create a media controversy that would grow old on people really fast.