Derrick Rose’s Defenders Include Dwyane Wade and Luol Deng

Last week,

spoke about sitting out games today so he isn’t hurting during his post-basketball career. He was widely criticized by the media, but former teammate

, and

came to his defense.

More from Chicago Bulls

• Chicago Bulls’ winning ways proves Billy Donovan’s system works
• Chicago Bulls News: Coby White is that dude
• Chicago Bulls’ recent success means big trades make sense
• The Chicago Bulls seem to have a major Zach LaVine problem.
• No Zach, no DeMar, no problem? Chicago Bulls stun the Bucks in OT

Last week, Derrick Rose raised eyebrows when he said that he sits out games so he could be healthy when the post-basketball part of his life takes hold. It is something athletes keep in mind, but he communicated it poorly, and many misconstrued his words. He was widely criticized for what he said.

Other athletes, however, understand what Rose was trying to say, since they all think about their health after they stop playing.

Miami Heat players Luol Deng and Dwyane Wade are two players who came to Rose’s defense.

Deng played alongside Rose for five years, watching him grow as a player. He was

Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports

adamant in how hard Rose works.

“The thing with Derrick is, I was there from his rookie year, I’ve watched him growing up,” Deng said to the Bleacher Report. “When he first came to the league, me and Joakim [Noah] would always tell him, ‘Derrick, you can’t play tonight. You’re hurt.’ And he always wants to put the team behind him and the city behind him. And even when he was hurt, he would play. And I really believe that some of his [subsequent] injuries were because he would play hurt. We would tell him not to. And he was so determined and wanted to be the best he could be, not only for the team, [but] for the city.

“We kept trying to tell him to understand, like, ‘Look, there’s a difference between pain and injury.’ And I think now after two injuries, he’s being smart.”

The Miami Heat have what they call a “Maintenance Program” that they use on Wade. He will take games off so he can stay relatively healthy. He is a staunch Rose defender on this issue.

Credit: Sam Sharpe-USA TODAY Sports

“People who have never been injured, really seriously injured, where it could be career-changing, they don’t understand what D-Rose’s [mental] state is when he said that,” Wade said. “I’m sure a lot of people who have picked what he said apart and had a lot of things to say, but if you’ve never been really injured, and it’s been career-changing for you, then you don’t know the mentality that he’s going through.

“From what I get from it, he’s not saying that he doesn’t care about the game and he doesn’t want to be out there in the moment. But he’s also saying he has to make smart decisions about this body.”

Joakim Noah put it succinctly earlier this week when he said  “It’s November, man. It’s November.” The season is early, and it is critical that Rose makes it through the season. Yes, the Bulls and Rose are taking the conservative route, but until he makes it through a season, questions will continue to hound him.

Playing through injuries is probably what got Rose in the situation he is in now. It would be foolish for Rose to come back now and continue to be reckless with his body again.

Fir his part, Rose says he doesn’t care what outsiders say about his comments or him sitting out games. He knows his body better than anyone else, so if he feels he needs to sit, then so be it. Would fans want to see him play against losing teams like Boston, Philadelphia and Orlando, and get hurt, or would they want him to be healthy in the playoffs and possibly raise a trophy?

The Bulls are a title contender now, and Rose has a team with offensive firepower. Let him handle his body how he sees fit so he can not only help bring another title to Chicago, but also play longer and be healthy.