Cavs’ Derrick Rose has a bone spur, may require surgery

CLEVELAND, OH - NOVEMBER 5: Derrick Rose
CLEVELAND, OH - NOVEMBER 5: Derrick Rose /
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Derrick Rose, who just recently returned after contemplating retirement, may be injured worse than was previously thought.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before — Derrick Rose is hurt, and it may be worse than we thought.

Rose, who just returned to the Cavaliers after a roughly two-week absence in which he contemplated retirement, might be out for even longer with what is now being called a bone spur in his ankle:

That’s really unfortunate for a player that has a robust history of injuries in his career, and whose absence from the team was in response to being “tired of being hurt.”

Bone spurs are typically a symptom of arthritis, which would make sense given Rose’s history of lower-leg injuries. Rose would likely require an ankle debridement, and recovery time is generally four-to-six weeks according to the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society.

As far as the Cavs are concerned, however, Rose can take as much time as he needs. Since Rose’s last game on Nov. 7, the wine and gold are 13-1, including an ongoing 13-game win streak. If the winning keeps up, they’d surely want Rose to come back as healthy as possible for the playoffs.

On top of that, fellow point guard Isaiah Thomas’ rehab from offseason hip surgery seems to be progressing faster than his initial timetable of January, and he could be back by as soon as the end of this month, if recent reports are any indication.

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It will be interesting to see how Rose reacts, if surgery becomes the only option. Hopefully, whatever decision he makes (whether to rehab the injury and come back, or to simply retire), he’ll be at peace with it.