chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose underwent surgery on Wednesday to repair his fractred left orbital bone after being hit in the face by an elbow in his first NBA pre-season practice.
The 26-year-old playmaker,theNBA's2011MostValuable player,is expected back in a couple of weeks.
"At this time it is estimatimated he will beable to resume basketball activities in two weeks," a team statement said.
First-year Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said ear-lier that he hopes to have Rose in the line-up for the Oct27 opener against Cleveland.
“The surgery went as expected,” Hoiberg said.
“It’s not structural damage that will keep him out. Once it’s healed, he’ll be ready to go.”
The injury took place on Tuesday as Rose was driving to the basket along the baseline and took an elbow to the face from a teammate.
Rose likely will need a mask when he returns to the court.
In the past four seasons, Rose has man-aged to play only100 games because of various injuries, including surgery on both knees.
“He’ll be back in no time,” teammate Joakim Noah said.AFP