HoopsHype.com Rumors

Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose needs to get on the court and play, said the former trainer of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. “It’s a mental state for some people,” Tim Grover, the trainer who began working with Jordan in 1989 and Bryant in 2007, said in an interview. “Once he takes that hit and stands back up and sees he’s OK, he’ll be just as good if not better than before.” Chicago Tribune

Chicago Bulls, Derrick Rose, Injuries, Tim Grover 

The story Griffin heard turns out to be true. And it goes something like this: Bryant told his longtime trainer, Tim Grover, he wanted to add in bike training to his summer conditioning. Grover researched a trail in Las Vegas, rented three bikes -- one for Bryant, one for himself, and one for Bryant's security guard -- and on the night before the first day of practice, they each put on headlamps and headed out to the trail and rode. "We finished up around 2 a.m." Grover said. "And we were back in the gym working out by 7:30 in the morning." ESPN.com

Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Blake Griffin, Tim Grover 

Tim Grover: “Everyone is saying ‘can Kobe Bryant come back close to where he once was?’ My job is to get him better than he once was. With all the technology that is available to us and all the different resources and the training available for this surgery now, there is no doubt in my mind that can happen." Sports Radio Interviews

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Injuries, Tim Grover 

Grover says Jordan didn't have the flu at all. Bill Simmons and Jalen Rose have recently debated whether or not Jordan was in fact hung over for that game, a suggestion that Grover scoffs at. The real truth, Grover says, is that Jordan was poisoned. "100 percent," Grover says on TrueHoop TV. "He was poisoned for the 'flu game.' Everyone called it a flu game, but we sat there. We were in the room." Grover explains: We were in Park City, Utah, up in a hotel. Room service stopped at like nine o'clock. He got hungry and we really couldn't find any other place to eat. So we said eh, the only thing I can find is a pizza place. So we says all right, order pizza. ESPN.com

Michael Jordan, Tim Grover 

I take the pizza and I tell them: "I've got a bad feeling about this. ... I've just got a bad feeling about this." Out of everybody in the room, [MJ] was the only one who ate. Nobody else had it. And then 2 o'clock in the morning I get a call to my room. Come to the room. He's curled up in the fetal position. We're looking at him, finding the team physician at that time. Immediately I told him it's food poisoning. Not the flu. ESPN.com

Michael Jordan, Tim Grover 

You mentioned how Gilbert Arenas changed his personality after the gun incident and Tiger Woods publicly apologized after his scandal, and yet both still struggled. Conversely, Kobe blocked out his legal situation in Colorado and played some of the best basketball of his career. Why is he able to do this while others can’t? Tim Grover: Because Kobe and Michael had the ability not to think of external things. When they stepped between the lines, it was like, “This is my safe haven. No one can touch me here. Nothing’s gonna happen. All that other stuff, once the whistle is blowing and I step across that line again, it’s still gonna be there, so I can’t let the other stuff affect me and the end result of what I do. I’m focused in on thing. I play basketball. This is what I do. I can’t let that other stuff distract me from doing this.” It’s the ability to shut it all down, not from a physical standpoint, but from a mental standpoint. Land O'Lakers

Washington Wizards, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Gilbert Arenas, Tiger Woods, Tim Grover 

Tim Grover: The biggest difference is Kobe wants to know why we’re doing certain things. He wants to know the reason for it, why, what’s happening, and so forth. Michael said, “Just get it done. I’m playing basketball. This is what I do. This is what you do. I don’t need to know. I’m not interested in any of this stuff here. This is why I hired you, so I can stay focused on what I need to do.” Kobe wants to more of the details. Why am I eating this? Why am I doing this at this particular time? What is going on here? Here’s very attuned to this stuff. But I think the thing they both have in common, and the reason I call them both Cleaners, when a Cleaner screws up, he admits it. He says, “Hey, I screwed up!” I try to tell people, if you mess something up, just say, “Hey, I messed up or I effed up.” Land O'Lakers

Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Tim Grover 

Kamenetzky Brothers: How much has Kobe grown as a leader in this regard? He’s gotten better about positive reinforcement with Pau, but he’ll also use phrases like “white swan,” “Bambi legs,” or “big boy pants.” Tim Grover: He’s gotten much better, but a Cleaner, the majority of the time, they’re always gonna revert back to who he is and say the first thing that comes to his mind. It’s going to be very short. It’s usually gonna be very harsh. But that’s the way they really know how to get their point across. And that’s their natural instinct, so they always have to catch themselves for a split second. He’s gotten much better. [Last week's game against Portland] was a great example. Normally, you see Kobe, when he had a first half like that, he’s trying to go out and get 50, 60, 70 points. But in his press conference afterward, he said,” In the second half, I wanted to make a conscious effort of getting my big man involved in there, because I know if I don’t, they end up standing around, just watching me.” That’s the evolution of starting to think, “I need these guys, not only to get to the playoffs, but to go far into the playoffs. I gotta keep them engaged.” Land O'Lakers

Kobe Bryant, Tim Grover 

Kamenetzky Brothers: The book mentions how Wade consciously held back his game in 2012 to get the most of LeBron James and for the sake of the bigger picture. He also recently told USA Today he knows he’s still a top 5 player and could put up bigger numbers if he cared. How rare is such a concession for a Cleaner? Tim Grover: You don’t have to be the top player on a team to be the Cleaner of the team. You just have to be able to produce in all situations. Dwyane, in order to get that second championship and get the most out of (James), knew he had to pull back a bit and let LeBron take this pressure on and take this team where he wasn’t able to in the Cleveland situation. Dwyane knew if he was able to do this, the end result is going to be obtainable, which is a championship. And that’s all that matters to a cleaner. It is the end result. Land O'Lakers

Miami Heat, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Tim Grover 

Tim S. Grover: Kobe's injury was not about minutes, he's conditioned to play 48, and he'll play 48 again. An Achilles can just go, any age or circumstance. Twitter

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Injuries, Tim Grover 

Ramona Shelburne: Grover on Kobe: "I'd be shocked if the minutes had anything to do with it. An Achilles can happen stepping off a sidewalk. Twitter @ramonashelburne

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Injuries, Tim Grover 

Ramona Shelburne: Grover: "This is not Kobe's fault, because he pushed himself. This is not coaches' fault. An Achilles just happens." Twitter @ramonashelburne

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Injuries, Tim Grover 

Now, Bryant had made a hard cut to push past Harrison Barnes of the Golden State Warriors and suddenly he collapsed to the floor, reaching back to clutch his heel. "I told myself, 'If he goes out of the game right here, it's the Achilles,' " Grover said by phone late Friday. "But whatever it was, I knew he was going to shoot the free throws first." Yahoo! Sports

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Injuries, Tim Grover 

Halfway across the country in Chicago, the man responsible for spending thousands of hours with Bryant and steeling Bryant's body for so long against the threat of catastrophic injury, sat in the somber silence of his living room. "I thought about all the work, all that he puts into this," Grover said. "I thought about what it means to him." Yahoo! Sports

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Injuries, Tim Grover 

Bryant needed someone to save him from himself, and Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni didn't have the strength to do it. Bryant mocked the suggestion this could've been his final game in the NBA, that his career could've come crashing down on Friday night. Before Bryant ripped that Lakers uniform off his back at Staples Center, he was talking comeback, talking about studying those who had returned fastest from Achilles injuries, and doing it even faster. Yahoo! Sports

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Mike D'Antoni, Injuries, Tim Grover 

Over a year ago, Bryant had a terrible shooting night in Miami and refused to leave American Airlines Arena. He showered, tossed on his practice clothes and returned to the arena floor for a long, hard workout. It was a strange, surreal scene. Mostly, it was Bryant. After he had left the building, I sent him an email: What was that about? He responded in the words of, yes, Achilles: "I want what all men want. I just want it more." Yahoo! Sports

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Injuries, Tim Grover 

Do you think all this talk about who is better, Michael of LeBron, bothers him?: Tim Grover: “I don’t think so, that it bothers him. But again, being a competitor, he’s definitely hearing it. And it’s part of what’s probably stirring things up a little bit is this whole debate. But I don’t think it’s bothering him, because listen, records and greatness, you always think somebody’s going to come along and dethrone you. I don’t think it’s going to happen, but LeBron’s on one hell of a streak right now. … But, again, there’s a long way to go to do what M.J. did, not only including the championships, but the rest of the stuff along the way.” Sports Radio Interviews

Miami Heat, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Tim Grover 

Tell me why you truly believe if he made a comeback, he’d be the best player on the Bobcats right now: Tim Grover: “First of all, the Bobcats are a very young team, so he knows how to create [things] and how to take away guys’ strengths. … Just the way he would compete, that if one of the players actually did beat him, he would take it so seriously that he would get himself in better shape and re-challenge that individual until he’d be able to beat him again. His skill set was so high. … I guarantee it’s still higher than most of the guys out there.” Sports Radio Interviews

Charlotte Bobcats, Michael Jordan, Tim Grover 

What kind of numbers would he put up?: Tim Grover: “He’d average 20. Yeah, he’d average 20. … Listen, would he be able to go out and get through an 82-game season? One thing people also [forget], he had no major injuries. … But yes, Father Time is undefeated. But again, there’s so much advancement out there … in anti-aging and so forth, so it is possible. I don’t think that he would come back unless he was 100 percent ready.” Sports Radio Interviews

Charlotte Bobcats, Michael Jordan, Tim Grover 

Attack Athletics, an elite West Side athletic training facility built by Tim Grover and backed by his most famous client, Michael Jordan, may be headed for foreclosure. Grover's company, Attack Properties LLC, is in receivership and owes more than $12.2 million to creditors. Among those with substantial skin in the game is Jordan, who stands to lose $1.5 million as an unsecured creditor. Chicago Tribune

Michael Jordan, Tim Grover