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Derrick Rose reflects on difficult season: 'I'm at peace with myself'

David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Another incredibly difficult season has come to a close for Derrick Rose, the league's most tortured superstar.

For the fourth consecutive year, the discourse around Rose's season focused on his health rather than his singular, otherworldly talents. Once a 22-year-old MVP, Rose has become a 26-year-old human Operation game board, with every return seemingly cut short by yet another injury.

Before moving forward, a quick refresher:

  • May 12, 2012 - Rose undergoes surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee, an injury suffered in the first game of the 2011-12 playoffs.
  • 2012-13 - Rose is cleared to return in March but does not make an appearance that season.
  • Oct. 29, 2013 - Rose returns to regular season game action.
  • Nov. 22, 2013 - Rose tears the meniscus in his right knee, undergoing surgery to repair the damage.
  • Oct. 29, 2014 - Rose returns to regular season game action.
  • 2014-15 - Rose misses 11 games with minor ankle and hamstring injuries.
  • Feb. 25, 2015 - The Chicago Bulls announce that Rose has once again torn the meniscus in his right knee. He undergoes surgery to remove, rather than repair, the torn portion, potentially sacrificing long-term stability for a quicker return.
  • April 8, 2015 - Rose returns, leaving him five games to shake the rust off before the playoffs.

Given all that he's gone through, just playing a game seems like it would be an enormous accomplishment for Rose. While losing to LeBron James in the playoffs for the fourth time in his career - three when he was active - surely hurt, Rose is maintaining a positive perspective on his season:

I always look at me stepping on the floor and me walking off the floor as a positive. Of course, I would want to win every game. It’s the NBA; you are not going to win every game. I’m happy with how my body responded when I came back, I’m happy with everything I learned this year, what I went through individually, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. I’m at peace with myself. Of course, mad we lost this game and we’re out of the playoffs. But it gives me a chance to really go into this summer with a game plan.

There were times when Rose looked like his former MVP self and times when he didn't resemble the same player. That's to be expected, and the basketball world will now hope he can have a healthy offseason and enter 2015-16 closer to full-strength Derrick Rose, even if he may never consistently climb his previous peaks.

In 51 games in 2014-15, Rose averaged 17.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.9 assists while shooting 40.5 percent from the floor and 28 percent on threes. In 12 playoff games, he pushed those numbers to 20.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 39.6-percent shooting and 34.8 percent from outside.

The shooting percentages will need to rise next season for Rose to approach his previous impact, but simply entering the season with a clean bill of health would be a huge boost for Rose and the Bulls.

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