"Back then, it was, ‘He's f—g being lazy'" - Derrick Rose regrets not having load management during his prime

“Back then, it was, ‘He’s f—g being lazy'” – Derrick Rose regrets not having load management during his prime originally appeared on Basketball Network.

As one of the NBA greats who suffered a career-altering injury, Derrick Rose unsurprisingly has something to say about load management. Known for not being expressive, D-Rose once aired his short yet strong opinion about the subject.

Understandably, Rose feels a deep sense of regret over the fact that load management did not exist during his prime years in the league. For D-Rose, it was just unfortunate that he came in a bit before that concept was put into practice.

“All the time in Chicago when I was coming back, load management wasn’t a term then,” Rose told NBA.com in 2019. “Back then, it was, ‘He’s f—g being lazy.'”

D-Rose couldn’t believe load management was backed by NBA teams

Unlike other players in that category, Rose was able to fully recover and return. In his comeback, D-Rose still carried the same mentality. He knew he had to prove to the Chicago Bulls that he could still play at a high level.

As he weighed in on load management, Rose pointed out that during his time, teams didn’t work that way. It was almost as simple as either you were an asset or a liability back then.

Seeing how players protect their bodies and prolong their careers through load management now, D-Rose couldn’t help but just laugh sometimes.

“They expect [you to miss games] now,” the 2011 NBA MVP added. “They know, ‘OK, he’s not going to get through the year [playing 82]. But as long as we get to the playoffs, that’s when we need him.’ It’s funny how things change.”

The Bulls regret not keeping D-Rose healthy

Not only did Rose arrive in the NBA a little too soon, but his ACL injury also took place at a critical juncture. To this day, most would find it hard to imagine how the best player on the court, playing for the best team in the league, incurred a terrifying injury in the very first game of the postseason.

The Bulls were coming off a failed Eastern Conference Finals run that year. They finished first in the East and were viewed as championship contenders. In a twisted turn of events, D-Rose tore his ACL during the biggest break of his career.

Many would agree that Rose’s sentiment about load management is valid. In fact, his former Bulls teammate Carlos Boozer also regrets how the Bulls failed to keep D-Rose healthy that season.

“We had D-Rose, and we just couldn’t get the job done, we put that on the chin and we take our hats off to our opponent…I think it haunts all of us that we know if we would have kept D-Rose healthy, we would have at least got one… We felt like we had a team that should be cutting the nets down hoisting a trophy up especially in 2010 (to 2011 season) and again in 2012,” Boozer said on FanSided’s “Da Winy City” podcast.

The 2011-12 season turned out to be the Bulls’ only chance at finally bringing the championship back to Chicago since the Michael Jordan era. Whether or not D-Rose could’ve led the Bulls to an NBA title if load management was already a thing back then is always an interesting “what if” topic to discuss.

This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 15, 2025, where it first appeared.

“Back then, it was, ‘He’s f—g being lazy'” – Derrick Rose regrets not having load management during his prime

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