Chicago Bulls legend Joakim Noah recently spoke about the moment he found out Derrick Rose tore his ACL in 2012.
Noah explained that the news hit him hard.
“When I found out Derrick tore his ACL, I remember the smells, who I was with, everything,” Noah said to Zach Lowe of ESPN during a podcast appearance. “I had the same feeling of when I saw the plane hit the tower [on Sept. 11, 2001]. People will be like, ‘He’s crazy for saying that.’ No. I’m telling you how I felt.”
Noah and Rose were teammates on the Bulls when Rose suffered his career-altering injury. Rose had been on a fantastic trajectory before suffering the setback.
There’s no telling where Rose would be today had he never torn his ACL. Upon his return from the injury, it was clear that he wasn’t the same player.
While Noah’s NBA career is over, Rose is still going. Noah was never able to win a championship, but Rose is looking to do so this season with the New York Knicks.
Both players will always be Bulls legends in the eyes of many folks, but Chicago is still searching for its first NBA title since 1998.
