Bulls' Rose has surgery; no timetable set
CHICAGO — Bulls point guard Derrick Rose underwent surgery Wednesday morning to repair a left orbital fracture after taking an elbow to the face during Tuesday’s practice.
The team has yet to put a timeline on when Rose will return, but head coach Fred Hoiberg remained optimistic that Rose would be ready for the regular-season opener Oct. 27 against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“All we know right now is Derrick went into the procedure this morning early, and the surgery went as expected,” Hoiberg said after Wednesday’s practice. “He’s in recovery now, but yeah, the surgery did go as expected.”
Hoiberg was hopeful that he would get a more formalized timetable later Wednesday, but noted that Rose did not have any structural damage.
“He’s still in great spirits, and again, it’s not a structural injury,” Hoiberg said, noting that he texted with Rose on Tuesday night. “When he comes back ready to go he should be able to go right back into it 100 percent — which, if you have something going on with one of your other body parts, it’s going to be you gradually get back. You know, 50 percent load and then move all the way up from mid-restriction. I don’t anticipate that in his case this will happen.”
Rose’s teammates, like many within the organization, can’t believe the 26-year-old point guard has suffered another setback. Rose has played in just 100 regular-season games since the 2011-12 season because of various health issues, including three serious knee injuries.
“I think he’s good,” center Joakim Noah said. “I mean, as good as can be. It always sucks to be injured and not be able to play the game that you love. But he’ll be all right.”
Cavaliers star LeBron James — whom the Bulls face opening night — echoed those sentiments.
“It’s unfortunate for him,” James said of Rose. “Obviously, I wasn’t there at practice to see what happened, but any time someone has to have surgery it’s unfortunate. I hope he has a speedy recovery.”
While the timetable remains unclear, it appears the Bulls are dealing with the reality that Rose will miss a minimum of at least a couple of weeks.
“[The injury] sucks in a way,” Bulls big man Pau Gasol said. “But he’s a tough kid and hopefully he’ll heal well and he’ll be ready to go. But it’s unfortunate that he won’t be able to be a part of most of training camp or the preseason because it’s a useful time for any team to get things on track, set the foundation for the season, especially with a new system, new philosophy, new coach. But no excuses. Life works out that way sometimes, and you just got to keep walking.”
ESPN.com’s Dave McMenamin contributed to this report.
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