Derrick Rose is perhaps the only person not thinking about Derrick Rose's return.
"I work out six days a week, so I don't have time to think about basketball,"
the Chicago Bulls star point guard said Wednesday in his first public comments to reporters since suffering his second knee injury shortly after returning from a previous knee injury that tanked his 2012-2013 season.
The 25-year-old said his only focus as the moment is his rehabilitation.
"We haven't even talked about it. I just come in every day, six days a week, and just try to do all my work and see how far it's going to take me when I step back on the court," Rose said according to CSN Chicago at the Wednesday Bulls charity gala.
"I'm trying to take it one day at a time and trying to stay positive," Rose told reporters, noting that he feels good but that he knows his knee is "not there yet."
Optimism is just one of the differences in Rose's recovery this time around; after his first season-ending knee injury, the star admitted to struggling mentally with the setback.
Another difference, as ESPN notes: Mum's the word for both the Bulls and Rose's camp when it comes to daily updates on his progress or making him available to the media.
Though Rose is running on the AlterG anti-gravity machine and shooting at practice, Bulls general manager Gar Forman and coach Tom Thibodeau maintain they're operating under the premise Rose will still be out for the entire season, CBS Chicago reports.
Rose suffered a torn meniscus during a game on Nov. 22 and had surgery three days later.
Rose also weighed in on his desire to play for Team USA in this summer's FIBA World Championship (“If my leg is feeling healthy and I’m there, I’m all in.") and on the recent, controversial trade of his pal Luol Deng. Rose told the Sun-Times he's texted with his former teammate and said "my feelings go out to him and his family, and I wish him nothing but the best."
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