Derrick Rose’s clear plastic mask might be as symbolic as the chains worn by Cool Hand Luke before he ran off from the prison gang.
Rose didn’t wear the protective mask in the second half of the Bulls’ 83-80 victory Thursday over the Clippers, and it was almost like watching a caterpillar molt into a butterfly.
He had no points in the first half and was basically terrible, with no assists and two turnovers. Then, unmasked in the second half, he went 5-for-8 from the field for 11 points, with two assists. He drove in for a clutch banker that was the Bulls’ last basket.
Now 27, Rose has been beaten like a snare drum during his four-plus years since being named MVP in 2010-11.
Most MVPs continue their dominance for years after winning the award. They might not be the best, but they stay close to it as they play on toward the Hall of Fame.
Rose is the outlier. He didn’t just fade in skill and dominance; he dropped off the cliff. Multiple knee surgeries, then the shattered orbital bone suffered this preseason have made him not just average as a point guard, but sometimes a liability.
This is not to dwell on the MVP selection, but think of the other winners going back 40 years: LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson, Shaquille O’Neal, Karl Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Moses Malone, Julius Erving, Bill Walton, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
I won’t even mention unearthly earlier MVPs Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson or Bill Russell.
Does Rose belong in this group?
Only the way a tin Christmas tree belongs with sequoias.
It’s not his fault. He didn’t ask to be elbowed in the face in practice back in late September. But it happened, and the recovery and rehabbing have not gone smoothly.
Rose still complains of blurred vision, and this is a terrible thing for a guard who needs every bit of his sight and spatial recognition to be a great playmaker and shooter.
As Kirk Goldsberry of the analytic site fivethirtyeight.com wrote Friday, ‘‘Derrick Rose is still the face of the franchise, and right now that face is broken. It’s sad to say, but Rose is among the least efficient players in the NBA this year.’’
There all kinds of complex stats to prove this inefficiency, but we don’t need them. We can see Rose’s lack of greatness every time he plays. He misses layups; he bricks three-point attempts; he seems slower bringing up the ball; he looks less desirous of nasty collisions under the hoop.
All this is understandable. But the 12-8 Bulls will go nowhere under new coach Fred Hoiberg and his supposed hell-for-leather offense unless Rose becomes Rose again.
So he forgot that mask. And he played well.
The game Saturday at the United Center against the Pelicans might be the next test for the mask-free guard. Symbolic freedom or real freedom? We could find out.
Former Bull Rip Hamilton wore a mask for the rest of his career after he broke his nose twice in the 2003-04 season. Everybody from James to Bryant to Tracy McGrady to Bill Laimbeer has worn a mask at some time because of a facial injury.
But Rose has been told by Hoiberg to push the ball up faster, to be, in other words, like the Rose of old. Like the reckless youngster who never thought twice about any part of his body.
Taking off the mask is a brave thing to do. Rose’s left eye and the area around it do not look normal. Another elbow to the same delicate socket, and who knows what happens to his face, his vision?
In truth, basketball is one of the most dangerous sports for eye injuries. Stats prove this. If it were up to this observer, every hooper at all levels would wear protective goggles and a mouth guard before setting out. But never mind.
For now, we’ll watch Rose, a desperate man with desperation all around, and see where he leads.
Maybe, we can only hope, his chains are off.
Follow me on Twitter @ricktelander.
Email: rtelander@suntimes.com
