Tim Hardaway has been down the same path that Derrick Rose is walking, knee injury-wise. And the former NBA point guard would advise Rose to miss the whole year, in order to fully recover from knee surgery. Read more after the jump.
PerESPN: “Chicago native and former NBA All-Star Tim Hardaway keeps hearing a potential March return for Derrick Rose, whose recovery from left ACL surgery reminds Hardaway of his own journey back from that injury, and that personal experience is why his target date for the Bulls point guard is farther off than most. Hardaway thinks Rose should sit out the entire 2012-13 season. ‘I’d just rather have him take his time, so he can be 100 percent, because he’s like me, running and jumping,’ Hardaway said.
Hardaway pointed out that his injury was similar to Rose’s, a freak, non-contact injury on a routine play. Hardaway was going up for a layup on March 3, 1993 against the Los Angeles Lakers when he tore his left ACL, and he missed the entire next season. Rose jump-stopped to shoot his trademark floater in the fourth quarter of Game 1 in the first round of last season’s playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers. Hardaway remembers the months after the incident, thinking over and over again, ‘Am I going to come back the way I want to come back?’
But he overcame any doubt and stayed the course, relying on faith, confidence, his family and new eating habits, and he was able to return in 1994-95 and didn’t have to deal with the ACL again — even after his career. Hardaway said one thing is certain about Rose’s recovery: It will make him a better shooter. ‘His jumpshot is going to come back a lot better than what it was,’ said Hardaway, who is now a community liaison and scout for the Miami Heat. ‘I’ll tell you that. His jumpers and his free throw percentage is going to be up. I’m telling you. That’s all you can do. You can’t do anything else, but shoot around and just shoot free throws.’”
