Derrick Rose Return Update: As Rose Considers Injury Return, Bulls Star Pays For Funeral of Slain Chicago Baby Girl

"Will he or won't he?" has been the question surrounding the status of Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose these days.

Rose, who continues to rehab his surgically repaired left ACL, has been cleared to play, but isn't feeling quite right yet, prompting the former 2010-11 league MVP and three-time All-Star point guard to delay his return.

In fact, this week Rose told reporters that he still wasn't sure when or even if he would be returning this season in time for the Bulls' run towards the playoffs.

 "Right now, I'm feeling about the same, where my leg is getting a lot stronger. I'm just trying to be patient," Rose told CSNChicago.com. "I think I can do everything. It's just me having the confidence to do it. It's just me feeling normal."

While stating that the hasn't felt any pressure from the organization to speed up his recovery, even as the No. 5-seeded Bulls (35-29) find themselves in the thick of a playoff race between Brooklyn, Boston and Atlanta, Rose still has no date set for his return and is patient enough to wait until he feels "normal" again on the court.

"I haven't taken any steps back. I'm moving forward, I'm getting stronger every day. I did every workout possible. My workouts are getting a lot easier, but I'm moving in the right direction," he said. "[My hamstrings are] just waking up. They're getting a lot stronger, but they're coming along. I'm moving in the right direction, haven't taken any steps back."

And that's just fine with Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, who has been content to let Rose heal at his own pace and rejoin the team whenever he feels ready.

"Whenever he's ready, he's ready and he comes back," Thibodeau told USA Today. "We've made that clear from the beginning. We're pleased with the progress that he's making and we want him to be comfortable when he's out there, whenever he's ready."

Meanwhile, while Rose continues to work to get back on the court, he turned his attention recently to a tragedy off the court in his hometown of Chicago.

Rose has offered to cover the funeral services for a 6-month old baby girl that was fatally shot in Chicago on Monday, according to CBS Chicago.

Jonylah Watkins, the infant, was fatally shot five times along with her father as he changed her diaper in a South Side neighborhood known as Woodlawn.

As police search for the killer, family members have been planning the infant's funeral. The mother, 20-year-old June Watkins, had to identify the body of her baby in the Cook County medical examiner's office Wednesday.

Rose, who grew up in the Englewood area of the South Side, has been outspoken about gun violence in Chicago in the past, tweeting his thoughts on the subject this past fall after two people were shot dead and 10 others injured thanks to shootings within a 48-hour period.

"I'm sitting here just thinking how sad it is that my city got to go through this," Rose tweeted in September.

As of October last year, 438 homicides recorded in the Windy City were due to gun violence in 2012, up by three from 2011.