ESPN

It was a year ago, on April 28, 2012, when Derrick Rose suffered a knee injury that is still being felt by the organization, its fan base and the entire NBA.

There was 1:19 remaining in the fourth quarter of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals when Rose drove into the lane and jump-stopped. The grimace on his face was immediate as he tried to jump for a shot before crashing to the court holding his left knee.

The United Center fell silent as the worse was expected and later verified. Rose tore his ACL and would undergo surgery on May 12. The Bulls won Game 1 but would go on to lose to the eighth-seeded Philadelphia 76ers in six games.

The prognosis was for Rose to take 8-12 months to rehabilitate and the process seemed to be going according to plan as periodic reports reflected steady progress. From doing basketball drills to practicing to taking full contact to scrimmaging five-on-five starting on Feb.18, Rose appeared poised to return after the All-Star break.

But suddenly the possibility that he wouldn't return this season started to surface in stories and interviews, and now it appears almost certain he won't be back at all this season.

ESPNChicago.com's Nick Friedell talked to many of those who were present at the time of the injury, and here are their stories:

Joakim Noah

"I just remember being up like 20 points and thinking we were going to win the championship. Even when he went down, it was weird but in my mind I was like, 'He could be out for a couple weeks and we'll be alright. We'll be ready for him to come back.'

"I even remember after the game I went to the Berto Center to go get some ice and get some treatment, I never do that, I was just so into it and then when I heard the news ... it was just hard. You know how hard we work every day, so to see him go down like that was tough. Not just for us as players but for the whole city."

“

It was a dark day. It was a dark day for us. We won that playoff game but Derrick getting hurt -- I'll probably remember that day for the rest of my life.

” -- Joakim Noah

When you first saw him on the ground what were you thinking?

"I just wanted to be there. Any time one of my teammates goes down I just try to be there for them. I didn't know how bad it was going to be. My mindset was more on just finishing the game and seeing him after."

How did you find out?

"My uncle called me. I can't believe I remember all this."

What was it like when you saw him the next day?

"It was hard, man. It was hard. I don't even like talking about it to be honest with you.

"It was a dark day. It was a dark day for us. We won that playoff game but Derrick getting hurt -- I'll probably remember that day for the rest of my life."

Carlos Boozer

(Long pause) "Truthfully, it was just sad, man. I couldn't really believe it. I was hoping it wasn't that serious but it was. Seeing him cry in the locker room, that was tough because he knew what happened already. It was tough, man. It's tough to talk about."

Did you know when he went down?

"No, I didn't know. I was just hoping it wasn't that bad. Honestly, I thought it was his ankle or something and then I realized he said it was his knee, so I was just hoping it wasn't that bad to be honest."

What was that locker room like?

"It was depressing, man. It was one of the saddest locker rooms -- we just won the game -- and it was one of the saddest locker rooms I might have ever been in."

What was the next day like for you?

"Tough, man. We really just met for a couple minutes, walked through a couple things and got out of there because everybody was down still. It was kind of like a ... it was just depressing, man."

Doug Collins:

"I was right in front of our bench and I saw him come down awkwardly and I just knew what he did -- I saw the way his leg buckled -- because I had that injury. And so I knew immediately.

"... I knew he hurt his knee and I was very sad. Obviously, it changed the playoff picture in our favor. They also lost Noah in Game 3, but Derrick Rose is a shining star and a bright light in the NBA and we miss him. He plays the game the way you're supposed to play it every night. He plays to win. He's a hometown kid who loves being in Chicago and representing his city. He's got a great family. And I'm one of these guys, I want to see the best players on the floor and so I hope he's going to be healthy soon and get back out there. Will that affect us? Yeah. But that kid needs to be out there playing basketball. He's special."

Taj Gibson:

"I remember it like it was yesterday. He was in the game, we talked about the game scheme, drew up a play for him to break down the defense and probably get a running hook, running floater -- he went down the lane, got a running floater, and just came down wrong. I was hoping it wasn't even his knee. I thought it was his ankle. He always had bad ankle problems, but he hurt his knee. We got a great win but the look on everybody's face wasn't even happy about the win. We were more like hoping that he's OK. You never want to see a teammate go out like that. But just the reaction when we got the news ... most of the guys just ran in the training room and we went into the training room and you didn't see him but we saw him come out with that disappointment look on his face it was surreal and we knew that it was something serious. That's what I remember the most."

"I just remember his face when he came out of the X-ray room and everybody was just shaking their head. It was like one of those scenes -- you're there but you don't know what's going on, but you know something was bad happening. It was one of those reactions, the whole locker room was just quiet, we heard people moving around but you hardly heard people say anything. That was crazy."

What was it like the next day?

"The next day was mellow. It was like you come in, it was quiet, real mellow and quiet. The only thing you mostly heard was the basketball. Guys just came in there and we got the news about how he was and it was cool because guys understood what they had to do but at the same time we really didn't understand like, 'What's the gameplan now?' How we got to adjust, we got to draw up different plays, we got to do different things like that. But guys were still like, 'Damn.' At the same time they were like, 'What could we have done differently? Maybe the second unit could have played a little harder, we wouldn't have had to worry about putting him back in the game.'"

"It was just a lot of stuff going on but then he was like, 'You got to man up. You got to get ready for the next game.' Things like this happen every day. But it was just tough because you go through a whole year of ups and downs, ups and downs, ups and downs, and get another blow like that to your teammate, you're like, 'Wow,' that was crazy. "


Sixers guard -- and Chicago native -- Evan Turner

"I think as big an icon as D-Rose has been to basketball and in the NBA and in Chicago, you're talking about a kid that's always been admired ... I root for every Chicago kid because you're putting on for the city and you inspire the younger kids coming up, (the injury) is traumatizing to a community. Chicago is on his back so you see him go down definitely is horrible because he's a pro's pro. You like watching him, you like seeing what he does, performing, so that was hard to watch, too."

What do you remember from that moment?

"I just thought he pulled a muscle because he didn't really react. I hear when people tear an ACL they start screaming and stuff. He didn't react or anything so I said he probably just caught a cramp because he's been playing off and on and that was it. I just figured nothing bad had happened, he never really got hurt before and then when it came out he tore his ACL, I was shocked because he didn't have any reaction."

John Paxson

"What I remember was there was excitement about the playoffs starting and us feeling that we had put ourselves in a position to make a run. And then we're sitting there just a short time away from winning Game 1 and knowing that every playoff game, that's the most important game you play, so we were going to have a 1-0 advantage.

"And then watching Derrick go down -- from that moment on I was just kind of numb -- because you knew it was bad when you saw him on the floor. And then the rest of the day was going to the hospital, staying with him and around him, and understanding that it was bad. And it was hard not to think about what that meant for our basketball team, but numb's the word to describe how I felt that day."

Gar Forman

"I remember when he first went down, because he had had several injuries during the year I thought ... I didn't have a good angle so I initially thought he had landed on someone's foot or sprained an ankle, I couldn't see that there was no one around. But then when I saw it on the TV, because we have a TV where we sit, then it was scary seeing him go down with nobody around. And then I just remember leaving the hospital and driving home and it just felt numb. That was about it."

CHICAGO -- Joakim Noah's foot still hurts.

The emotion that comes from a thrilling triple overtime win isn't enough to make the aching in Noah’s right foot go away, but in the midst of an all-time playoff classic he managed to push away the discomfort he’s been dealing with for the last few months. The big man was only supposed to play about 30 minutes in Game 4, a 142-134 Chicago Bulls' win over the Brooklyn Nets, but as the epic contest played out it was clear that Noah would exceed the minutes limit that Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau had hoped to keep him within.

Noah ground his way to 15 points and 13 rebounds in 40 minutes in a performance that earned him a standing ovation after it was over.

"I don't think I have any minute limit right now," he said softly after the game.

Noah admitted that he did speak to the Bulls' medical staff as the game kept going and played coy when asked if he talked about his minutes limit with Thibodeau as things played out. Yet again, Noah found a way to impact the affair with an energy that continues to inspire his teammates and coaches.

"He’s doing it on will," Thibodeau said of Noah. "He hasn’t practiced, he’s feeling a little better. He was actually in the practice facility last night shooting. that’s usually a good sign. Haven’t seen that in a while."

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CHICAGO -- Late in this hard-fought playoff game, with the Chicago Bulls on his back and Tom Thibodeau’s breath on his neck, Nate Robinson couldn’t cool down.

If you’ve ever wondered what goes on between Robinson’s ears when he plays his special brand of basketball, just think of the announcer’s voice on NBA Jam.

“I always think I’m on fire,” he said after scoring 34 points in the Bulls’ wild 142-134, triple-overtime victory over the Brooklyn Nets. “Like the old school game, NBA Jam, you make a couple and the rim’s on fire and when you shoot the ball, the ball’s on fire. I feel like that at times. Well, all the time. When I’m in the game, I play with a lot of confidence and you kind of got to lie to yourself that you can’t miss.”

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CHICAGO -- Let's take a quick look at how the Chicago Bulls pulled out an unbelievable 142-134 victory in triple overtime over the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday afternoon at the United Center in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. The Bulls lead the series 3-1.

How it happened: The Bulls trailed by 14 points with less than three minutes left in regulation. That's when Nate Robinson decided to take over. Robinson put the Bulls on his back and lifted them into the first overtime by going on a personal 12-0 run and then making a crucial pass to Carlos Boozer to tie the game. The Bulls gutted it out the rest of the way, getting huge contributions from Joakim Noah, Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng, among others. Robinson finished with 34 points in just 29 minutes before fouling out. Noah, who was supposed to play only about 30 minutes because of his plantar fasciitis, played 39 minutes, scoring 15 points and pulling down 13 rebounds. Deron Williams finished with 32 points for the Nets, but it wasn't enough.

What it means: This win not only gives the Bulls a commanding lead, but it also gives them an enormous amount of confidence because of the way they performed. They grinded this game out and never gave up despite being down by double digits down the stretch. Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau has always talked about how he loves the mental toughness his team shows, and that was never more evident than on Saturday. The Bulls played with the type of never-give-up attitude that has been their hallmark over the past few years. Robinson's performance was memorable, Hinrich played great over 60 minutes, Boozer and Deng were solid, and Noah played better than even Thibodeau could have hoped. This is a game that will live in the annals of Bulls' playoff history.

Hits: The Bulls shot 53.2 percent from the field. The Nets shot 49.5 percent from the field.

Misses: The Nets turned the ball over 20 times and missed 16 free throws.

Stat of the night: Robinson had 23 points in the fourth quarter. The franchise record for a points in a quarter is 24 -- set by Michael Jordan.

What's next: The series heads back to Brooklyn for Game 5 on Monday night. Tipoff is at 6 p.m. CT.

Yes, it's "early" for an MVP race. But it's also very late already for a lot of playoff teams.

Each round of the playoffs is a "season" unto itself, with every team in a do-or-die series. Already we've seen virtual must-win games for the 56-win Memphis Grizzlies and Milwaukee Bucks, and we'll get two more tonight on ESPN, with the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers trying to stay in their series with the Knicks and Spurs. In that context, every game is amplified tenfold, and every play has the potential to swing the season. Valuable, indeed.

So we're ranking the top 10 players of the postseason every week from now through the NBA Finals, not based on their overall performances solely, but from a perspective of value in obtaining the only thing that matters in the playoffs: Wins.

At the same time, we should mention that some players do enough to impact series even in losses, sometimes by elevating the level of play from their teammates, which puts the team in better position to win the next game. Other times players force the opponent to make wholesale changes in strategy, opening up a new plan of attack for their own team.

Ultimately, though, it's about winning four games in seven. So who is ahead of the pack as we complete the first week of the playoffs?

Read the entire story.

CHICAGO -- The postgame routine doesn't change for Joakim Noah these days.

It's been the same way for about three months. After finishing up his postgame media session, Noah hobbles on his aching right foot to the shower and tries to find some other place in his mind to put the pain.

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DEERFIELD, Ill. -- Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose was officially ruled out of Game 3 of their playoff series against the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday, but coach Tom Thibodeau still refuses to shut the door on a possible return this season.

"We've said this all along," Thibodeau said. "If he's ready to come back, he's coming back. And that's no matter when it is. So if it's a week from now, great. If it's not, then that's fine too. We just got to keep moving forward."

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CHICAGO -- In the midst of the Chicago Bulls' preparations for Game 3 against the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday, Grantland's Bill Simmons offered up a reminder that no matter what happens over the next few weeks, the Bulls always must keep an eye on the future.

It's a reminder that the Bulls front office didn't need because it's been their motto throughout this season without Derrick Rose and myriad of injuries to key players.

In the second part of Simmons' annual ranking of the NBA's top 50 players, he comes to the 20th spot on his list: Kevin Love of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

He references the fact that Love has an opt-out clause in his current deal that would allow him to become a free agent after the 2014-2015 season. That's when the Bulls become involved, with Simmons noting that Love would very likely opt out of his deal. Simmons believes the Bulls are the likeliest suitor for Love:

"The Bulls have big contracts to make the trade work (Luol Deng on the enticing side, Carlos Boozer on the less enticing side); they're loaded with assets like Jimmy Butler (no. 49 on this year's list), the rights to Mirotic (a high lottery pick if he entered this year's draft), and the rights to Charlotte's future no. 1 pick (top-10 protected in 2014, top-eight protected in 2015, unprotected in 2016); and they're a big-market contender with a superstar in house (so they could keep Love for the long haul).

Simmons doubts the Wolves could turn down a deal that includes Boozer, Butler, Mirotic and the Charlotte pick.

There are a lot of different layers to this proposal. Let's break them down individually.

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DEERFIELD, Ill. -- Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah said he feels better as he continues to deal with plantar fasciitis in his right foot and expects to play the same amount of minutes in Game 3 that he did Monday.

"I'm actually feeling a little better," Noah said after going through most of Wednesday's practice. "And just doing everything I can to keep the pain under control. It's an exciting time of year, and I'm just happy to be a part of it."

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau seemed optimistic about Noah's progress and wanted to keep him on the same course. Noah gutted out 11 points and 10 rebounds in 26 minutes during Monday's win over the Brooklyn Nets, tying the series 1-1. Thibodeau was hesitant to say whether Noah will play even more minutes, but he was happy that Noah was able to move around during practice.

"We'll see," Thibodeau said. "We'll see after shootaround [Thursday]. But it will be roughly the same, same ballpark."

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NEW YORK -- The most talked about player on the Chicago Bulls is someone who hasn't played a minute all season, Derrick Rose.

It's time to start talking about someone else -- namely, Joakim Noah.

He's the No. 1 reason why the Bulls are headed back to Chicago all square with the Brooklyn Nets, following a 90-82 victory in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.

Noah has had far better games statistically than his 11-point, 10-rebound performance on Monday. But the box score doesn't nearly tell the story. Playing through plantar fasciitis in his right foot, which sidelined him for most of the final month of the regular season, Noah was in the middle of almost every key play in the fourth quarter, as the Bulls fought off a Brooklyn rally.

"Jo's giving us everything he has," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "And we're obviously a lot better with him on the floor."

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NEW YORK -- Here's a quick look at how the Chicago Bulls pulled out a 90-82 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night at Barclays Center to even their Eastern Conference quarterfinals series 1-1:

How it happened: Luol Deng bounced back in a major way after a poor Game 1 performance, scoring 15 points with nine rebounds and four assists. Carlos Boozer added 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Joakim Noah gutted out 11 points, 10 rebounds and three assists in 26 minutes. The Bulls' defense was on point throughout the game and frustrated the Nets from beginning to end.

What it means: The Bulls were embarrassed about their performance in their Game 1 loss on Saturday and played with the type of edge that has become their trademark over the past few seasons. Deng set an early hard-nosed tone that his teammates followed while Boozer racked his usual double-double. The key for the Bulls was their defense on Deron Williams, who had 22 points in Game 1. Kirk Hinrich stayed in control on Williams and the Bulls were able to control the tempo in the process. They didn't allow the Nets to get easy run-outs and they made sure they kept their defensive intensity up their entire game. The Bulls did exactly what they wanted to do before they left Chicago -- they grabbed a game on the road and stole home-court advantage. They believed they could win this series before it started, and that confidence will be even higher after they pulled together to win this one.

Hits: The Bulls shot 48.1 percent from the field.

Misses: Williams was just 1-for-9 from the field.

Stat of the night: After being outscored 56-36 in the paint in Game 1, the Bulls outscored the Nets 42-30 on Monday.

What's next: Game 3 is at 7:30 p.m. CT on Thursday at the United Center.

NEW YORK -- Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah will start in Game 2 against the Brooklyn Nets and will play 20-25 minutes as he deals with ongoing issues with plantar fasciitis in his right foot.

"I'm feeling alright," Noah said before the Bulls' morning shootaround.

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NEW YORK -- The waiting media gathered on the lower level of one of the ritziest hotels in New York City on Sunday afternoon to speak with Tom Thibodeau and his Chicago Bulls after they were manhandled in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals by the Brooklyn Nets.

As the players began to file out of a conference room that had been taped on the floor to resemble one half of a basketball court, two lines began to form to give the players a walkway to get to their next destination. Player after player filed out without much interruption, and then Derrick Rose appeared.

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NEW YORK -- Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau expects Joakim Noah (plantar fasciitis) and Kirk Hinrich (thigh bruise) to play in Game 2 Monday night against the Brooklyn Nets.

"(They're feeling) actually pretty good," Thibodeau said after the Bulls' film session Sunday. “So the one plus is Jo felt pretty good today."

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NEW YORK -- Luol Deng sat in front of his locker late Saturday night icing his aching feet in a red cooler. He exchanged whispers with Joakim Noah as the crowded Chicago Bulls locker room began to fill with reporters.

As Noah stood up and hobbled off to the shower, Deng said: "Stay up buddy," to his teammate.

After shooting just 3-for-11 from the field and scoring six points while getting run around by Brooklyn Nets forward Gerald Wallace, Deng should take a piece of his own advice and repeat his mantra into a mirror over and over before Game 2.

Deng didn't just have his worst game of the season in the Nets' 106-89 destruction of the Bulls in Game 1, he had his worst game in several years. He missed several looks early, got frustrated, and for the first time in recent memory, got thoroughly outplayed by his counterpart, Wallace, who scored 14 points.

"He's a good player," Deng said. "He had a good night tonight, but it's one of those things. I play hard, I battle, so I'm just looking at it as I had a bad game tonight. We lost one, but we'll bounce back next game."

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