Bulls' Derrick Rose talks about recovery, return in ESPN conversation

Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose talked to ESPN's Rachel Nichols this week about recovering from surgery on the anterior cruciate ligament he tore in the 2012 playoffs. Rose doesn't sound certain of a timetable for his eventual return to play this season.

Rose told Nichols that the first step he took after surgery felt like the "weight's being lifted off my shoulders...it made me feel proud knowing that I could only get better." Rose also said that "right now I haven't started cutting yet. But running, jumping off boxes. shooting jump boxes, all that stuff I can do."

No date has been set for Rose's return. Rose doesn't sound too anxious about exactly when he returns: "If I might wait the whole year, so what? If I have to come back at the All-Star, so what? If anything, it helps me with my patience."

Rose continued: "When the time comes I just have to be ready and prove to the people here I'm ready to play. Who knows when that time is."

Rose also said that he has to come back and "not be scared to play the way I normally play," likely the greatest concern for Bulls fans for their star point guard.