Rose cautiously optimistic he'll be ready for All-Star Game
Maybe Derrick Rose should start wearing a parachute on the basketball court.
Speaking to reporters in Dallas on Friday in advance of Sunday's NBA All-Star Game at Dallas Cowboys Stadium, Rose said the worst part of the hip injury he suffered two days earlier was anticipating the pain during his long journey to the floor.
"It seemed like it took me forever to get down out of the air," Rose said. "I thought I was going to hit my tailbone, but it was my whole right side."
Rose drove to the basket early in Wednesday's loss to Orlando at the United Center. He was met in the air by 6-foot-11, 265-pound Magic center Dwight Howard, who knocked Rose off-balance and eventually flat on his back. Rose ended up with a bruised right hip and didn't return.
"I told Dwight he was the first center that ever knocked me out of the air like that," Rose said. "That's how big his body is. That's what centers are supposed to do, make it tough for me to go to the hole. I just opened up my body too much and he knocked me down."
Rose felt good about his chances of playing Sunday. He's the first Bulls player chosen to be an all-star since Michael Jordan in 1998. He expected to spend most of Friday icing down the injury and estimated his chances of playing Sunday at 75 percent.
"The next day, actually, I was able to walk a little bit more comfortably," Rose said. "If everything goes right, the treatment goes well, hopefully I'll be on the court for Sunday's game."
Rose is also scheduled to defend his title in the skills contest Saturday night. He wasn't sure if he'll stick with that event.
"They've got me running around a lot right now," he said. "So we'll just have to see about that."
The Bulls are planning to have Rose examined by team physician Brian Cole on Saturday, but Rose said he would make the decision on whether to participate in the two events.
Dallas was hit with surprising 121/2 inches of snow Thursday, reportedly a record for the area. But the players made it into town OK.
Bulls rookie Taj Gibson took the floor in the rookie-sophomore game Friday, though his minutes were limited because of lingering plantar fasciitis in his left foot.
Elsewhere at the all-star news conference, Miami's Dwyane Wade downplayed the chances that he'll join his hometown Bulls as a free agent this summer.
"I love Chicago, of course, so it's always exciting; it's always fun to think about that," Wade told reporters in Dallas. "But I'm really not thinking about being in another uniform. I'm thinking about building a dynasty in Miami. We just have to get (other free agents) to come and if we get people to come, why would I leave?"