On Friday afternoon, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported that Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Derrick Rose had left the team to deal with a personal matter — more specifically, to “re-evaluate his future in the NBA.” His new teammate, three-time champion Dwyane Wade, knows a thing or two about climbing from the depths of adversity.
In a candid interview with Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, Wade explained that he too thought of retiring at one point.
“It’s a big mental toll, man,” Wade said of Rose’s injuries. “Obviously, I can’t say I understand what he’s going through, but I understand what he’s going through. I definitely had a moment in my career a few years back where I was thinking about retiring myself. It’s hard when you’re dealing with injury after injury after injury — it takes a toll on you mentally. This game brings so much joy to guys, and it brings the opposite as well. It will take you to the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. If you’re not mentally where you need to be, it affects you with your family, it affects you in your day-to-day. You’re just hurting. When you’re hurting, you’re frustrated, and sometimes you think about walking away from the game. I definitely thought about it. I’m glad I didn’t because I’m still able to enjoy the game. But it definitely was a for real moment for me to think about it, because I was hurting every time I made a move. No one wants to live like that.”
Fedor then asked Wade, now in his 15th year of NBA service, why he decided to keep on playing. Wade credited his training and eating habits.
“I started learning about my body a little bit,” Wade said in response. “I asked more questions, started training a little different, started eating a little different, and doing things differently. I just told myself I’m going to give it one more go at it. As a matter of fact, it was after LeBron (James) came back to Cleveland. It was after that season. In the Finals, I was hurting. And the next year I said, ‘I’m going to give it one more go and see how I feel when I change things up a bit.’ I was able to do it and start to enjoy the game of basketball again. You don’t want to play this game if you’re not enjoying it. You don’t want to play this game if you’re hurting. I’m thankful I did that and can still play.”
As most hoops fans know, Derrick Rose, now 29 years of age, has dealt with several injuries over the course of his career. This season, the former MVP suffered an ankle sprain. Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue, who recently stated that Rose can “take as long as he wants,” was already expecting the crafty ball-handler to miss at least two weeks of action due to the injury.
The Cavs, winners of seven straight games despite four rotational players being down with injuries, could certainly use Rose’s services in their back-court rotation. In his seven games played for Cleveland this season, Rose has turned in averages of 14.3 points on 47 percent shooting from the field, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.7 assists.
Any athlete who has dealt with an injury knows that it can truly be draining, especially for a player of Rose’s caliber — a player who once rivalled LeBron James in popularity. Instead of ragging on his decision, we should be wishing him a speedy recovery.