Derrick Rose is the youngest MVP of all time and shines on the floor like no other. However, spectacular highlights gave way too soon to a horrendous series of injuries that changed his career forever. The ultimate “What If” star has made peace.
A love letter to the sport of basketball – it was Derrick Rose’s final act as an NBA professional. Rose, who was drafted No. 1 overall by the Chicago Bulls in 2008 and became the youngest MVP ever in 2011, announced his retirement from competitive sports on Thursday. After 16 seasons in the National Basketball Association, iconic highlights and an endless series of devastating injuries, the three-time All-Star and former Rookie of the Year ended his career – a week before his 36th birthday.
Just a few days ago, the Memphis Grizzlies surprisingly released him from his current contract – at his own request, as it now turns out. “I gave everything for the game. I have found peace with the decision,” he said. “Basketball was just the beginning for me. Now I want to give everything for my family – they deserve it.” Rose is married and has three children.
The Chicago-born and raised superstar announced his decision on his Instagram channel and in daily newspapers in all six cities where he played professionally: Chicago, New York, Cleveland, Minnesota, Detroit and Memphis. He thanked his fans… and basketball, his “first love, who believed in me in good times and bad” and “was always there when everything else seemed uncertain.”
Youngest MVP ever
Growing up without a father and in abject poverty in one of the most notorious neighborhoods on Chicago’s South Side, Rose developed early into one of the best young players in the country. His single mother and older siblings meticulously protected “Pooh” from all outside influences, especially “cutthroats, agents and bloodsuckers who basked in his fame and only wanted to exploit him,” wrote Sports Illustrated in 2006.
During his school days, he wore his jersey number 25 as a warning reminder of the murdered Benji Wilson, a once-in-a-century talent from Chicago who fell victim to gang violence in the “Windy City” in 1984. In 2006, he hit the winning shot to win the Illinois state high school championship. Rose spent a year at the University of Memphis before joining the pros and the legendary hometown franchise selected him first overall in the draft in the summer of 2008.
“D-Rose” became the first Bulls pick since Michael Jordan to score ten or more points in his first ten games and was one of only three players in the club’s history to win the Rookie of the Year trophy. His path up to the NBA penthouse continued unhindered. Rose’s spectacular and fearless style of play made him a viral highlight machine and one of the most popular players in the league. Adidas signed him as a rookie and rewarded his performance with an exorbitant contract extension in 2012 (almost $190 million over 14 years).
Between 2010 and 2012 he was always elected to the All-Star team. In 2011, Rose led his team to the best record in the league and first place with 25.0 points and 7.7 assists per game, made it to the All-NBA team and won the MVP trophy Aged just 22 years old. In the playoffs, the Bulls only failed in the Conference Finals against LeBron James’ Miami Heat, who later had a sensational loss against Dirk Nowitzki’s Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals. In the 2010-11 season, Chicago remained the only playoff team against which Nowitzki & Co. could not get a single win.
Bad luck with injuries, thoughts of retirement, reinvention
What was supposed to be just the beginning for the iconic Bulls teams of the 2010s and their electrifying point guard became the demoralizing beginning of the end. Rose’s meteoric rise was abruptly interrupted by a devastating scene in April 2012. In the first game of the first round series against the Philadelphia 76ers, a torn cruciate ligament in his left knee would change his career forever.
From that moment on, Rose was never the player he once was. The guard, who was repeatedly set back by injuries in the following years, missed 228 of the next 394 regular season games and was only able to dominate on the floor sporadically. The Bulls chose a different direction, and he even considered retiring early.
A tearful trade to the New York Knicks in the summer of 2016 and the subsequent sporting reinvention revitalized Rose and laid the foundation for a more than respectable second half of his career. With the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2018, he achieved his career high (50 points) and commanded the ultimate respect from all his contemporaries. LeBron James called him a “superhero,” his coach Tom Thibodeau “one of the toughest guys I know,” and Dwyane Wade “an example of never giving up.” Between 2019 and 2021, Rose repeatedly flashed his top class and established himself as one of the best substitute players in the league, before he let it end quietly with a second trip to New York and most recently Memphis.
Hall of Fame caliber?
Only 18 players – out of a total of almost 5,000 in NBA history – have at least 17 points, 5 assists, 45 percent shooting from the field and 700 or more appearances in their careers: Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Steph Curry, Isiah Thomas, Chris Paul, Walt Frazier, Clyde Drexler, Dwyane Wade, Kevin Johnson, Nate Archibald, Reggie Theus, Gus Williams, Kyrie Irving and Derrick Rose.
This illustrious company already shows the dilemma surrounding Rose and his Hall of Fame case, which will certainly be discussed more excitedly in the future. Does the guard, who was once voted most valuable player of the season but only made it to an All-NBA team once and never made it to an NBA finals, have the necessary arguments for a nomination to the Hall of Fame on his side ?
There are a number of Hall of Famers who can’t hold a candle to Rose either statistically or in terms of “fame”, i.e. fame at the peak of his career. Rose’s brilliant first third of his career is single-handedly responsible for one of the few true East rivalries of the millennium, as his Bulls and James’ teams regularly battled for conference supremacy.
Complicated legacy… and peace
The “Windy City Assassin” was – like few other players besides him – a cultural reference point for an entire generation. A court case eight years ago over the alleged gang rape of an ex-girlfriend, in which Rose didn’t cut a good figure but was acquitted of all guilt, couldn’t change his immense global fame and superstar status on at least three continents. Both his brand and his popularity are intact.
For Jerry Reinsdorfthe team owner of the Bulls, Rose represents like no other “the fighting spirit, the endurance and the heart of Chicago. He is one of the most stubborn and strong-willed athletes I have ever known, has always fought back from setbacks, most of them forever It was an honor to see a local hero like him make history in a Bulls jersey.”
For many, Derrick Rose is the ultimate “what if…” player. What if he had never injured himself – or at least not repeatedly? This question has been asked ad nauseam since 2012. But what if it completely misses the point – and in the end D’Rose’s story stands for what he achieved, for perseverance, for what he achieved, despite all the odds?
“I believe true success is reaching your potential as a human being,” Rose concludes. “Each of us has moments in life when we think about what could have been. But even if I could, I wouldn’t change a single thing in my life. All of that has made me the person I am today.”
