Bulls' DeMar DeRozan: Been dealing with hip issue 'for a while'
CHICAGO -- Bulls All-Star DeMar DeRozan exited Chicago's 100-91 loss to the Orlando Magic late in the fourth quarter Monday night after a right hip injury that he says has been bothering him for more than a month flared up.
DeRozan has been listed on the injury report lately with the hip issue -- which caused him to miss last Monday's game against the Memphis Grizzlies -- but was trying to play through the injury until it flared up on him against the Magic. He took himself out of the game with1:02 remaining.
DeRozan said he is scheduled to undergo further testing on the area Tuesday morning.
"It was bothering me the whole game," DeRozan said. "I just felt it. I didn't want to risk nothing. Hurting it any more, what it was or anything. Just the accumulation of what it's been, attempting to play on it."
DeRozan, who finished with 19 points on 8-of-20 shooting and six assists in 36 minutes on Monday, was selected for his sixth All-Star Game and would be making his second consecutive All-Star appearance since joining Chicago at the start of last season.
He is averaging 25.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.1 assists in 2022-23.
The Bulls have two more games remaining before the All-Star break: a back-to-back against the Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday and Thursday.
DeRozan was not ready to rule himself out for the rest of the week, or say he would miss Sunday's All-Star Game in Utah.
"It's too early to say. I always take everything day by day," DeRozan said. "Get some rest, wake up, see how I feel tomorrow, get it checked out, get a better idea of what exactly it is, have a better idea of how to treat it and how to deal with it. It's something that I've been playing on for the last month and a half, just never said anything. Just want to get it right, especially going to the break."
DeRozan was not sure where to trace the origins of his injury, but said he has been dealing with it since at least "10 games before the Boston game," a reference to a game against theCelticson Jan. 9, when DeRozan left early with a right quad strain.
"When I'm sitting doing nothing, I don't feel anything," he said. "It's just when I do anything to work that muscle in my leg, it's just a lot of discomfort. So just trying to figure that out, get that situated the best I can."
With DeRozan limited again, neither he nor the Bulls were able to find a rhythm offensively.
Chicago dropped its fourth consecutive game to fall to 26-31 and into 11th place in the Eastern Conference, while DeRozan failed to reach 20 points for the fourth consecutive game.
"It's been bad. I'm never going to be the one to complain or make any kind of excuses," DeRozan said. "It's just something I've been dealing with for a while."
