Derrick Rose has played 10 matches for Knicks this season. He missed the eighth straight game Sunday night against the Sixers.
The 32-year-old goalkeeper did not play in March – due to the new fancy sports term: “health and safety protocols”.
Finally, back with the Knicks on Thursday, Rose released photos two hours before the break, then wore teacher glasses while sitting on the bench in a white shirt for Thursday’s victory over Orlando.
According to NBA COVID-19 protocols, Rose has enough negative tests to allow her to be with the team.
According to NBA sources, Rose is in the final stages before being eliminated – he has to go through a series of workouts to make sure he is safe to play.
Last week, Thibodeau said Rose was “feeling much better.”
Knicks, under HIPAA law, is not allowed to confirm that Rose came out on a positive test. But Thibodeau’s remarks the other day suggested Rose might have had symptoms.
Here, too, the pandemic season remains frightening and unpredictable. Scientists still do not know the long-term effect of COVID-19 on professional athletes.
Dr. Marc Sala, a lung specialist for Northwestern University and his expert on COVID-19, told The Post that a professional athlete can have symptoms even after negative testing for months – not to mention weeks.
Rose last played on February 28 in Detroit. He was ruled out of the San Antonio game on March 2 due to an inconclusive test.
“We had people who had previously been marathon runners and patients with high physical function, such as an athlete who still – 12 months later – has symptoms,” said Dr. Sala. “Breathing, inability to return to running.”
It’s a virus I’ve never seen.
“Even after the end of the acute viral infection, they can have very prolonged symptoms even after the virus has disappeared,” Sala said. “We don’t know why and it’s a huge area of study right now.”
In the case of NBA players, such as Rose, Sala said the precautionary tests are done to monitor for any inflammation of the heart.
According to Sala, the virus “affects the heart, lungs, brain and kidneys.” Rose probably suffered electrocardiograms and echocardiograms.
“If the heart is inflamed, the activity on the heart is dangerous,” Sala said. “You’re conservative insofar as you practice.”
Some Knicks fans get impatient, wondering why a return of Rosa takes so long – as if it’s dealing with a sprained right ankle.
Wrong discussions on social media had Rose in Chicago at a funeral for a friend. Thus, the rumor was that he stayed away from the team because of the protocols. Others pointed out that it was AWOL as during his first Knicks internship in 2016-17.
All, of course, blatantly false. Rose has been in New York since flying with the San Antonio team, when the team thought she would play the next game. Rose only needed more negative tests.
But this is a season like no other and Rose is still out. In a way, the Knicks survived the lack of a guard, who saw Elfrid Payton (hamstring), Immanuel Quickley (ankle) and Austin Rivers (paternity leave) missing.
“It’s extremely tough,” said Julius Randle, who has played in all 42 games. “But as I said all year, the next man up. That’s what we’re thinking. So the next guy who intensifies – the boys have taken a good step in this role. Anything we can do to achieve victory, no matter what challenges we face. ”
The Knicks are 3-4 since Rose stopped playing due to COVID-19 problems. In the 10 games with the club, the Knicks are 7-3.
The Knicks are the best with Payton as a starting point and Rose and Quickley as a backup tandem.
Payton and Quickley appear on the verge of a return. So is Rose.
Mitchell Robinson, in the last 15 games with a broken hand, had a shot to return on Sunday night.
“It’s going to be a huge difference,” Randle said. “We will start running once the boys return to the line and become healthy and we will have a complete team. It will be great.”
But, as we all know, the still mysterious virus means that the only sure thing is that there is no sure thing. And we can only wish Rose much success.
“We have no idea what the long-term effects of COVID-19 are on anyone – let alone athletes who previously had amazing reserves and functions,” Sala said.