Column: Bulls fans left to wonder 'what if?'

He drove hard to the lane, jumped and crumpled against the hardwood at the United Center April 28, 2012.

This rapid sequence in the Chicago Bulls’ first-round playoff game against the Philadelphia 76ers wouldn’t only alter the trajectory of the next season’s playoffs, but also the legacy of the youngest player to have ever won the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award — Derrick Rose.

He had torn his anterior cruciate ligament, more commonly referred to as the ACL, which required a recovery period of eight to 12 months, causing him to miss the entire 2012-13 season.

And, it would appear, ruin the Bulls’ chances at a championship run this year.

The 24-year-old Chicago native, selected first overall by his hometown Bulls in the 2008 NBA Draft, was destined to be the knight in shining armor for a franchise that hasn’t reached the NBA Finals since Michael Jordan led the team to a championship in 1998.

Rose’s initial two seasons in the league ended with abrupt first-round playoff exits, though the 2010 season lit a spark the city of Chicago hadn’t seen since Phil Jackson was strutting the sidelines.

It also marked the beginning of Rose’s legacy, which has since been a fiery point of discussion.

Advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals two years ago, the Bulls’ lack of an ideal supporting cast was evident, as the Miami Heat’s “Big Three” — LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh — overpowered Rose in what was virtually a three-on-one game.

With the Boston Celtics’ own “Big Three” — Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen — declining, the Heat remained the only obstacle in the Bulls’ path to a championship.

Prior to the current season, general manager Gar Forman assembled a roster much to the liking of head coach Tom Thibodeau, a defensive-minded basketball guru.

The power and ferocity of that roster was on display during a decisive Game 7 against the Brooklyn Nets in the first round of the playoffs, as the team won the series without Rose, leading scorer Luol Deng (out due to illness) and interim starting point guard Kirk Hinrich (calf injury).

Even without those integral pieces on the floor, the Bulls managed to spring an upset against the heavily-favored Heat in Game 1 of the 2012 Eastern Conference Semifinals, leading fans to ponder the team’s chances of advancing with Rose on the floor.

But with each passing game, we’ve seen Rose go all out during pregame warm-ups, only to trade his sweat-soaked shirt and shorts in favor of a crisp suit prior to tipoff.
And that’s where the inherent problem lies.

With the worst group of active players the NBA Playoffs have seen in quite some time having knocked off a so-called dynasty, Rose has been content to sit and watch, not once even hinting at the notion of a possible return.

But shouldn’t a player as passionate and humble as Rose sacrifice the fact he may not be the exact replica of himself circa 2011 and give what he can to aid in the quest for a championship?

I’m no doctor, but I am smart enough to know physicians cleared Rose to play as early as March, indicating that the 6-foot-3-inch, 190-pound All-Star is physically capable of playing the game at the highest level.

Sure he might have mental reservations about returning to the same court where he suffered such a gruesome injury, but won’t he have to face any existing fear at some point?

And why didn’t he do so at the beginning of this series against the Heat, which his team trails 3-1 at the time of this publication?

And if Rose was intent upon sitting for the duration of the postseason, why didn’t the team rule him out to avoid this chaos?

Rose may go on to win championships with the Bulls, or another team, but NBA fans won’t forget the soap opera that has unfolded during the first two rounds of the playoffs.

And the rest of us will be left to wonder,
“what if?”

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— ckillore@indiana.edu