Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau told ESPN Tuesday that he isn't sure Luol Deng will travel to Miami for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Heat. Kirk Hinrich is also doubtful as he told ESPN that the calf injury that has kept him out of the last four games hasn't changed.
Deng has spent parts of the last six days in a hospital dealing with aftereffects of a spinal tap that was conducted to test for spinal meningitis. Following the Bulls' Game 1 upset on Monday night, Deng tweeted: "So proud of my team, man. This bed might be good luck after all," alongside a picture of himself in a hospital bed.
Even if he decides to fly to Miami, Deng's status is still up in the air following non-committal comments made by Thobodeau. Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations John Paxson didn't add any optimism after commenting on the ill forward's status during a local radio interview.
"He's struggling with this illness," Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations John Paxson said on "The Carmen & Jurko Show" on ESPN 1000. "It's much worse than we thought, and he thought, so we're not sure what the deal is there yet. We'll see what happens. We get the medical report today on him."
Paxson also commented on the status of Kirk Hinrich's injured calf. "It's just a difficult injury," Paxson said. "It's an impact injury in his calf. He basically got hit square on it. There's still, from what I understand, there's still some bleeding in that calf.
While the ailing Bulls continue to face recent injury problems, the timetable of Derrick Rose's return seems to still remain unanswered. Rose continues to rehab from a torn ACL injury he suffered during the first round of the 2012 NBA playoffs, and has remained out of action since.
Rose told ESPN that there is a possibility he could return to action during the Bulls' current series, however, remains uncertain.
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