Late Friday night, Joakim Noah sat in front of his locker, answering questions about Derrick Rose. Noah, who rarely meets an emotion he doesn't share, talked in passionate yet halting words.

Suddenly, he stopped. He looked at the floor and then back up again.

"Even talking about his situation is hard for me," Noah said.

And yet Noah has, consistently and eloquently. Following an overtime home victory over the Heat in early March, Noah, in unsolicited fashion, raised how excited he is to play with Rose in the future and to celebrate a championship with him.

In Noah's mind, it's that simple, that black and white. Build championship habits now because when the Bulls' star returns, he's due for some good fortune again.

"Even though it's hard, I talk about him because I see what he does every day. I see the work he puts in," Noah said. "He never exhales. He stays upbeat and positive for this team. He always stays aware of what's going on with the team. He tells me what to do offensively.

"That's who Derrick is. He's always humble, always thinking about the team. It's almost like he handles his situation better than I handle it. What he has dealt with, I don't know that I could do that."

The NBA playoffs start this week. On April 28, two years will have passed since Rose, the league's reigning most valuable player, came to a simple jump stop. And the ascendant path his career had been on crumpled to the floor with him, a torn left ACL in his wake.

"People can say whatever they want," Noah said. "In my mind, if he was healthy and didn't hurt his knee, there was no question we were winning a championship that year."

The ridiculous will-he-or-won't-he theatre of last season followed. And then, fully healed, a seemingly benign back cut — again, a move he had performed without consequence countless times — tore Rose's right meniscus Nov. 22 in Portland.

After just 10 games, a second straight season ended. When Rose suits up for the 2014-15 season, he will have played just 50 NBA games in three seasons.

And yet, he's a constant presence, hovering over this franchise's future as much for his salary-cap-consuming contract as his star potential and quiet acts of leadership. Taj Gibson invoked Rose — again, in unsolicited fashion — following Friday's biggest comeback of the season from 18 points down to beat the Pistons. Gibson said Rose kept reminding teammates how quickly fortunes can change.

Talk about cruel coincidence.

Rose flashed defiance in December when Hall of Fame writer Sam Smith asked what Rose would say to those who doubt the premise that Rose can remain the Bulls' centerpiece following two serious knee injuries.

"You can be a fool if you want to," Rose said then.

But the reality is, questions will accompany Rose's return. Will he regain his elite form? Can he stay injury-free? How many games will he play?

Those questions already are answered in his teammates' minds.

"He has that mindset that he's going to come back strong. And we believe him," Gibson said. "I was with him mostly all (last) summer. I watched him work out in the hot sun twice a day. Some guys would just have that forget-it attitude. I've seen that happen a lot in the NBA. Not Derrick.

"He works at it every day. I've seen him sweating and grunting and yelling. Knee injuries are so painful. And he gets after it every day. To have that passion and work ethic speaks volumes about him."

Noah marvels at Rose's mental fortitude. Noah missed two months in 2010-11 following surgery to repair a torn thumb ligament and basically bounced off the walls.

"That was one of the hardest things in my life to not be able to play the game I love," Noah said. "For what has happened to him and to be at the peak of your career and still be upbeat? That's special."

Nobody can definitively say how Rose's return will go. Gibson sits next to him on the bench during games, where they talk about basketball, and frequently on plane rides, where they "talk about life."

"He's still the same guy," Gibson said. "He has never changed. He's super humble, always encouraging. He has that mindset of an underdog, like he's a second-round pick. That's how he approaches the game and why he goes hard all the time.

"His confidence is there. It takes a lot to come down and pull up on some guys and take big-time shots and not be scared to fail. Some guys have all the talent in the world but can't do that. He can do that. And he will again. Just watch."

It won't be in these playoffs. But it wouldn't be surprising to hear Noah bring Rose up at some point, emphasizing again what he means to the franchise, even as Rose's second straight missed season slips away.

"It's just tough because I know how hard he wants to be out here playing in these games," Noah said. "That's what he plays for. He's a strong-minded guy. He brings so much hope with his abilities and leadership. I can't wait for him to come back."

kcjohnson@tribune.com

Twitter @kcjhoop