Derrick Rose admits season has been 'the toughest year I've played in this league'

At 33-33 and in ninth place in the Eastern Conference, the Chicago Bulls are in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2007-08.

The Bulls earned the No. 1 pick in the draft that season and went on to use the selection on Derrick Rose.

Despite experiencing one of his healthiest campaigns in years, the former MVP said that 2015-16 has been his most difficult season thus far.

"It's tough. Definitely been the toughest year I've played in this league. Guys getting injured. Myself, as far as trying to stay on the court consistently," Rose told The Vertical's Michael Lee.

With 16 games to go, the Bulls will likely need to finished ahead of the Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards to claim the No. 8 seed in the East.

"Right now, this is the first time it would happen (missing the playoffs) in my career, so it's kind of weird," Rose said. "Every day, we still got to fight to become that team that we all want to become."

Backcourt mate Jimmy Butler agreed with Rose's assessment, stating that the Bulls have to be more resilient if they want to reach the playoffs for the eighth straight season.

"We're not the tougher team. All the way down this roster, we're not the tougher team and it shows, from the jump ball to the end," Butler said. "There's a loose ball, we're not getting it. If there's a rebound people have to fight for, we're not getting it. We're just not the tougher team, and I think it shows a lot of the time. We have a lot of guys that have a lot of potential to play hard, we just forget how hard we have to play sometimes - a lot of the times, actually."