Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose addressed reporters Thursday for the first time since undergoing season-ending knee surgery on Nov. 22, vowing to possibly return in time for the playoffs.
Rose, 25, tore his right meniscus on a simple backcut in Portland against the Trail Blazers. He underwent surgery to reattach the cartilage on Nov. 25 and remains on crutches.
“If I’m healthy and the situation is right, I’m going to be back playing (in time for the playoffs),” he said. “If I’m healthy and my meniscus is fully healed, of course I’ll be out there playing, but if it’s something totally different and the outcome is not how I would want it to be, it’s no need.”
–Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant will not play Friday against the Sacramento Kings.
Bryant practiced twice this week and could still return Sunday, when the Toronto Raptors visit Staples Center.
“It feels pretty good,” Bryant told ESPN. “This is the second day now that I’ve been able to get out there and move around and play and play pretty well, and it felt like I could do anything that I wanted to do out there on the floor, so we progress to (Thursday). On to tomorrow. Let’s see if I can go three days straight and then have another hard workout on Friday and kind of measure it accordingly.”
Bryant tore his left Achilles and had surgery in April, when he said he expected a recovery period of six to nine months. Next week, Bryant would be eight months removed from the operation.
–Injured Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo is progressing, but his return is a ways off, Celtics general manager Danny Ainge said Thursday.
“I don’t think he’s close,” Ainge said. “Meaning, I don’t think (his return is) going to happen the next few weeks.”
Rondo tore an ACL in February and has been rehabbing the knee. He’s expected to meet with surgeon Dr. James Andrews within the next two weeks.
–The Golden State Warriors waived 7-foot center Dewayne Dedmon on Thursday.
Dedmon, 24, was originally signed as a D-League call-up from the Santa Cruz Warriors on Nov. 18. He appeared in four games with Golden State, logging a total of six minutes.