Column: Derrick Rose poised for big return

After months of waiting, Derrick Rose returned to the basketball court Oct. 5 against the Indiana Pacers.

That’s a great sign for Chicago Bulls and NBA fans.

Getting the start at point guard, Rose scored 13 points on five-of-12 shooting from the field in 20 minutes.

“Same old Derrick Rose,” Pacers Coach Frank Vogel told the Associated Press. “He looked great.”

Rose is going to have a season for the ages.

After tearing his ACL against the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2012 NBA playoffs, the 2010-11 NBA MVP sat out the entire 2012-13 season and postseason.

Now, he finally seems to be healthy and ready to lead Chicago into the playoffs. This season, he’s on a mission to win the NBA championship.

Toward the end of last year’s NBA season, there was much speculation about Rose’s
return.

He would warm up earlier than the healthy players and sometimes would even warm up with the team. Seeing him on the court, fans expected him to return to the court in game action.

There were videos of him dunking with a little explosion during practice last season. He seemed as if he could play, but he wouldn’t be at full strength.

Fans got their hopes up. They wanted to see their hero — the best basketball player to put on a Bulls jersey since No. 23 himself — return to guide their team.

He never did.

He said he wouldn’t return until he was 110 percent.

In a USA Today article published earlier this year, Rose said, “It can be within a couple of weeks. It could be next year. It could be any day. It could be any time.

“It’s just that I’m not coming back until I’m ready.”

Now he seems as if he is.

So far through the preseason, Rose has played in two of the three games.

The Chicago Tribune’s Bulls beat writer K.C. Johnson tweeted something interesting Rose said less than two weeks ago.

Johnson’s tweet said, “DRose on his mindset: ‘If it’s my Mom on the court, she’s going to get killed.’”

This comment was made with no disrespect to his mother. This was made as a fair warning to all NBA players.

He is willing to challenge everyone in his way. Basketball is that serious to him.
In a recent commercial for Adidas, Rose says, “If you took away the money; if you took away the fame, the spotlight; if you took away the lifestyle and all the things that come with it; if you took away all the flash, what would you have left? Everything.”

Basketball is a way of life for Rose.

Rose still appears to have the killer instinct and grit that compelled him to help the Bulls win games.

His comment about his mother will be one of the many memorable things from Rose’s 2013-2014 NBA season.

Rose is ready to get out there and be the competitor he is.

­Follow columnist Jaylen Johnson on Twitter @nelyaJohnsonIDS.