If you’re looking for someone to mock Derrick Rose’s faith in
God you’re in the wrong place. Without getting too deep into Theological debate
I will say this, I’d rather believe in a Supreme being unseen than “man”, who
history shows can’t even conduct himself as anything above an animal when given
unchecked power. Another admission, I’m a Bulls fan, an Illinois native, and
nowhere near being objective or rational -in other words I will talk about Ben
Wilson and what he would have done with that 1989 Illinois team until they lay
me down. in fact (here’s a little peek
into my crazy) I consider the Illini 1989 Champions by default due to his untimely
death, because there’s no way Glenn
Rice outplays him in that 89’ Final Four Game. I’m not a “hardened” Chicago Sports
fan though, and I don’t consider it a badge of honor to tip toe on that line
between passionate sports fan and douchebag- so I totally get the young man (D-Rose)
wanting to make sure he’s 100% before coming back. I just wish he’d take a long
hard look at the mental side of his apprehension to getting back to work.
His gift is a unique one, the way he contorts his body and
explodes from his core is unlike any other athlete to play the Point Guard
position, and this makes freakish athleticism and “burst” kind of what Derrick
Rose “does”. Not only was Stephon Marbury right when he said “God delivers
Point Guards” but he may have been prophesizing the arrival of someone like
Rose-sorry Steph. Unlike Marbury Rose also kind of “does” humility and faith, to listen to him
talk is to hear a down to earth athlete who is grateful for extraordinary gifts;
which leads me to his statement last week about God being the only “knower” of
his return-and what it means to me TONIGHT. To me you have to give God
room to do his thing, just as he gives us situations to figure out through our
own free will- God is a collaborative worker and a “point guard” in his own
right. Rose is the one, who injected God into the discussion, and if God gave
him the ability to rocket into the lane and dunk over 6’10 Centers then I have
news for Derrick Rose; God can help him with the fear he’s wrestling with at
this very moment.
In fact God even gave him an insurmountable foil in which to
process this fear, a platform in which he can show Derrick that all
things are possible through him... and a Goliath to illuminate his “David”.
The last time Derrick Rose saw LeBron James he had to shrug
like a kid who just found out that no matter how good he is he can’t beat his
Big Brother. The game’s greatest player “turned the screws” on Rose and despite
being 5 inches Taller and some 70 lbs. thicker “The King” played Magician and
made Rose disappear on the biggest stage. Since that time injury made “Chi
Towns Finest” that much more vulnerable, and since then James not only became a Champion but Rose’s MVP
campaign was re-filed in the revisionist history machine and determined an
asterisk - one of those silly things people do to those they truly love (James)
when they’re in a “lovers spat”. It was all for show, with Derrick being that “nice
guy” caught in the middle, the one you weren’t really “into”. The Miami Heat is
already the most Dominant Team since Kobe’s and Shaq’s Lakers and they’re close
to making Jordan’s Bulls something old dudes talk about in the barbershop and
nothing more.
Jordan’s Bulls, the team that gave Chicago its heart again, the
team that shed light on the city as a whole including the preponderance of Chicago
Prep stars like Rose and Ben Wilson. God can keep us prudent when need be, but
part of God’s plan is for us to see what isn’t there, in other words many of us
forget that God is the Father of audacity, that voice telling you to take steps
forward despite your fears. Many men have done things that go beyond their
presumed talent level when they’ve kept their minds on God, where else do we
get the seeds of upsets and sports theatre? Without God there is neither 1983
Wolf pack nor FIU. Men don’t pray before games without good reason, many of
them pray because they’re about to attempt something that only God knows they
can do.
Even we as fans and media tend to lose faith in what athletes
can do, if you don’t believe me research the Sports page of the Minneapolis
Star Tribune in July of last year.
Once Dr. Brian Cole cleared Rose to play (understandably) fear set in, not the fear of competition but the fear of pain real and imagined-not doing what you love for long stretches can make you question everything. Faith is meant to safeguard from the fear and anxiety that grip us all, Rose is merely in need of a reminder that true believers are tested all the time. When worry sets in it’s not the relationship to fans he is jeopardizing it’s the closeness and faith he has in God, fans like me are just men who have to combat our own fears. We can’t gauge where he’s at, but we do know that when we show uncertainty in our homes it can permeate right down to the youngest child like a contagion.
There seems to be this
waiting process with Rose, but God is waiting on him to set aside his fears and
there’s no better game than the one that should strike fear in any NBA team. I
know it’s easier said than done but it isn’t supposed to be easy, that’s why we
marvel at the men who do what we could never do-the impossible is a
physiological requirement of all athletes is it not? If they were ordinary
would you pay to see them? If Rose “is” who he is then there’s a slingshot with
his name on it and a Historic 27 game win streak waiting to be squashed by the
most unexpected of underdogs. He should know that the only thing that can slow
him down is weight, the weight of family who derive income from him and a City
that watched him grow up- but none of these people can give him the courage to
ignore his anxiety; they can only exasperate it. If he can lace up the Adidas
tonight he’ll learn a lot about himself in relation to God, something he may
not even be able to learn in prayer.
The first thing he’ll learn is Satan is the prototype bully,
a coward, you know; A bitch, but if he senses the least bit of “punk” in you
he’ll roll over you like a prime Mike Tyson. Remember Mike knocked 30 cats out
before anyone realized he was not only emotionally fragile but about roughly
5’10 and some change. He’ll also learn about what makes guys like MJ and Kobe
tick, that ability to thirst for big moments knowing full well part of that
thirst comes with upstaging peers with little or no remorse.
LeBron James is
the perfect rival for Derrick Rose to face in his comeback, because win or lose
James has a lot of wisdom to share with Rose about getting past mental blocks,
he just moved aside the biggest in Basketball History. Nobody is asking Rose to
come all the way back and log 40 plus minutes through the play-offs, I’m just
suggesting (as well as Dr. Cole) that he would be doing himself and the Miami
Heat a huge service symbolically in choosing tonight to get out there and work up a sweat. What do you have to lose when
you have faith? What possibly can happen if you put all of your fears in God’s
hands?
In Proverbs 3:5, 6 it is written to “Trust in the Lord with
all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways
acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight”. The Doctors can do all
they can do, Tom Thibodeau can’t be counted on to do anything more than what he
did this morning because it is a players league. Only Derrick Rose can take his
sweaty palms off the wheel, take a deep breath, strip off the warm-ups, and let
go and let God.
