One man will have final vote on Rose’s return

When pondering Derrick Rose’s future, never discount Jerry Reinsdorf’s role.

One voice will be heard above all others and one vote will be cast above all others, and they will belong to the Bulls’ chairman. Rose will rank a close second.

Rose might persuade Reinsdorf that the date should be moved back to beyond its time. But he won’t persuade him that it should be moved up to before its time.

Reinsdorf went through this with Michael Jordan. He let His Airness talk him into playing sooner than later, and Reinsdorf likely still wonders whether it was the right thing to do.

Maybe the Chicago media forgot about Reinsdorf while plunging into a snit over the trivial matter of USA Today snagging the Rose interview. They felt betrayed after honoring the Bulls’ request not to pester the all-star point guard during his rehabilitation from knee surgery.

Get over it, people.

Anyway, Rose was quoted as saying he might not be able to play this season, which started a wildfire of speculation. But that comment is what Reinsdorf has said all along: His superstar must be 100 percent healthy or he won’t be back on the court.

Wednesday night in Boston, where the Bulls lost 71-69 to the Celtics, Rose clarified in sort of a peace offering to Chicago reporters that he definitely wants to play this season. However, he added again that he doesn’t know when that might be, if at all.

So who will decide all this? Rose himself? His doctors? His people, meaning family and agents and accountants and lawyers and tailors and barbers?

Most compelling is whether it will be Adidas, the shoe company that pays Rose $260 million to endorse its merchandise. The last thing any fan of any team wants even hinted is that a shoe maker has a say in when an athlete will or won’t do this or that.

Don’t worry. Derrick Rose will not play basketball for the Bulls again until Jerry Reinsdorf permits him to,

The chairman will take into consideration what all the above influences — from doctors to barbers — have to say. Then he’ll make a decision after consulting with himself and perhaps his son Michael, the Bulls’ president and chief operating officer, and with Rose.

Remember, Reinsdorf refused to turn over the Bulls’ decision-making process to Jordan. He didn’t let Airness make trades for his North Carolina cronies, didn’t let him fire general manager Jerry Krause, overall didn’t let him run the franchise.

Jordan was the franchise — the person both the offense and the revenue flowed through — but Reinsdorf wouldn’t let him own it.

Rose isn’t Jordan, so it’s difficult to imagine him or anyone else persuading Reinsdorf to do anything Reinsdorf isn’t fully committed to doing. Certainly not Adidas. Probably not even Rose.

Reinsdorf is in charge of major decisions with the Bulls and nothing is more major than Derrick Rose’s future.

So to think that Reinsdorf would allow Adidas to dictate when Rose plays again is absurd. Adidas might schedule interviews, but it won’t schedule playing time.

Some might take this as Reinsdorf meddling in basketball affairs and medical affairs. Maybe it is, but Rose isn’t a management decision like whether to bring back Kirk Hinrich.

Rose’s health and future are ownership-level matters, and it would be foolish to think Reinsdorf would abdicate the responsibility of managing them.

So here’s a reminder: Jerry Reinsdorf will have the final say in when Derrick Rose comes back to play for the Bulls.

mimrem@dailyherald.com