Sabrina B. gametimegirl

Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose will be out at least 8-12 months after undergoing surgery to repair his left ACL, said Dr. Brian Cole, who performed the surgery on Saturday.

The 23-year-old Rose tore the ACL on April 28 during the first game of the Bulls’ Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against thePhiladelphia 76ers. Without Rose, the Bulls became only the fifth No. 1 seed to lose to an eighth seed as the Sixers won in five games.

“Derrick is doing great,” Cole said Tuesday at a press conference at Rush University Medical Center. “The surgery went extremely well. Really no surprises. It was pretty routine.

“We’re at this point very optimistic. … We think of recovery as the long process that’s in stages. But the short answer is the time frame we believe an athlete of this caliber generally requires is about 8-12 months. Sometimes shorter, sometimes longer.”

That means Rose is likely to miss at least the first two months of next season, or he could miss the entire season.

Bulls general manager Gar Forman said Rose was ready for rehabilitation.

“In the time frame I’ve spent with him, and I was with him over the weekend, his spirits seemed really good,” Forman said. “In his mind, he’s determined to attack this rehab and get back to the level that he was at.

“There was a period when he was down. But I think his spirts are good under the circumstances and I think he’s ready to aggressively attack this.”

ESPN