It was only an NBA preseason game, but still it was a game.
Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose hadn’t played in one of those in 17 months. On Saturday night, he returned to the court to face the Indiana Pacers in Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
And he looked as good as ever to the crowd that turned out to watch the former NBA MVP. He dunked, showed his lightning quickness, fell to the floor after a hard foul and bounced back up, and ran the floor.
Rose sat out all of last season after surgery on a torn knee ligament that he suffered during the 2012 playoffs. He was criticized for not returning sooner, but he never wavered.
All seemed forgotten on Saturday night with Rose back on the court in the Bulls’ 82-76 preseason victory. Rose finished with 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field and had three assists and four turnovers in about 20 minutes.
“I’ve been preparing myself for this moment for a year and a half now,” Rose said after the game. “So (I was) just being prepared for this and continuing to go out there and know how blessed I am to be stepping back on the court again, especially with these guys.”
Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau was certainly happy to have Rose back.
“The speed and the power that he plays with,” Thibodeau said. “there’s no one like him.”