About Those Derrick Rose Torn ACL Tweets

Say, friends, let's take a walk for a moment. Follow me as we have a quick discussion about Twitter.

This was the tweet that started the uproar on Saturday.

BREAKING: Chicago Bulls PG Derrick Rose has torn ACL and MCL in left knee, will miss remainder of playoffs.

— NBC Miami (@NBCMiami) April 28, 2012

And then a really large megaphone shouted that out.

Chicago Bulls PG Derrick Rose has torn ACL and MCL in left knee, will miss remainder of playoffs - @NBCMiami

— Breaking News (@BreakingNews) April 28, 2012

But something is wrong here. Let's examine.

All of this appears to have stemmed from people fake Retweeting ESPN Chicago. That tweet looked like this:

"@ESPNChicago: Doctors Report Derrick Rose has a torn Mcl and Acl will miss the remainder of the playoffs and have surgery on Tuesday"

And a whole lot of people were tricked. It caught reporters, fans and news stations, all because random people were just creating a fake retweet -- for the uninitiated, anyone can make it look like another Twitter user said something with "RT @username Whatever goes here."

Finally, ask yourself why a Miami TV station has this news. And, as Tom Ziller mentions, ask why the Bulls leaked this when it goes against everything we know about their staff.

Sure, the most tight-lipped medical staff in the league would leak surgical plans two hours after an injury. Makes sense.

— Tom Ziller (@teamziller) April 28, 2012

Rose may have serious knee damage, but we don't yet know. And the flurry of tweets should raise your skepticism, especially since he hasn't yet had an MRI.

Update: /drops mic

Report of Derrick Rose's injury was premature, his status is unknown. @BreakingNews

— NBC Miami (@NBCMiami) April 28, 2012

Update 2: Officially, Rose suffered a torn ACL. The Bulls announced the injury Saturday evening.