Staff Writer Abyan Memon explores the interesting career of NBA Star Derrick Rose.
Derrick Rose. The 2011 NBA MVP. His career is what I think of every time I hear the words “fever dream”—a prime too short for Hall of Fame (HOF) induction, yet one too impressive to be forgotten. Hence, Derrick Rose will be remembered as an NBA legend.
College Career
I do want to spotlight Derrick Rose’s NBA highlights in this article, but I think it is important to set the stage: with a time machine and two courtside tickets to the 2008 March Madness Final Four Memphis versus UCLA game.
As we watch the two most athletic guards ever to play college basketball duel it out, I point to the one in the UCLA jersey. That is Russell Westbrook, class of 2006 and my favourite NBA player. Squaring up against him is the class of 2007’s top-ranked point guard: the man who led his school to 2 consecutive state titles.
The man who in his 1 year of college led his team to a 38-2 record, survived 5 rounds of single-elimination, put up a prospect-defining performance against UCLA, and nearly knocked off Kansas in the national championship. The man drafted 1st overall in the 2008 NBA Draft.
Draft
“With the first pick in the 2008 NBA Draft… the Chicago Bulls select Derrick Rose!” Chicago was stuck in a state of sub-mediocrity during the 2007-08 NBA season. After Michael Jordan left the franchise for good, Chicago knew its dynasty days were over and entered rebuild mode. It took Chicago’s general managers Jerry Krause and John Paxson 7 years to get the team back onto its feet and into the playoffs.
However, even with a promising young core, the Bulls struggled in the playoffs, failing to find much success. The missing cog in the engine was a star, a leader, a franchise player, someone who could elevate this team to a championship contender. Elton Brand, Ron Artest, Eddy Curry, Tyson Chandler, Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, and Luol Deng were all names heard in conversations for the next Chicago superstar. However, it wasn’t until the 2008 NBA Draft that Chicago may have finally found the missing piece.
Early Career
Like the all-time greats, Derrick Rose tapped into his potential early and entered his prime in his younger years. Unlike most of the all-time greats, Derrick Rose played in what is, to an extent, consensually the most difficult era of the NBA: the 2010s. Unlike the other all-time greats who started their careers in the 2010s, Derrick Rose won his first MVP award in just his 3rd season and became the youngest NBA player ever to win the MVP award.
During his rookie season, Derrick Rose won the Rookie of the Year (ROTY) award for his 17/6/4 (points/assists/rebounds) and 0.8 steals averages. The Bulls then went on to face an all too familiar fate of losing in the first round of the playoffs. However, this time it was different. Neither was the ROTY award the highest point of the season nor was the playoff defeat the lowest point of the season. To explain why, we need tickets to the 2009 Celtics vs. Bulls first-round series.
What was expected to be a fairly predictable first-round series was flipped right on its head by the young Chicago team. The NBA playoffs are a bracket-style tournament with each matchup consisting of a series of 7 games. Best of 7. First to 4. The inexperienced 7th seed Bulls team managed to push the reigning champions, the Boston Celtics, to 7 games, and at the forefront of it was the man himself, Derrick Rose. Rose assisted on all 3 of the Bulls’ opening baskets of Game 1 and then poured in 23 points in just the second half.
Finishing the game with a dominant 36 points and 11 assists plus clutch free throws, Rose sent the city of Boston into a state of unease as their reigning champions were now trailing the Midwest team. Rose and his team returned two days later to face Boston in Game 2. In terms of points, Rose had a very quiet game. He did, however, have a series high 2 blocks and a series low 2 turnovers.
As we would come to find out, Rose was the x-factor for Chicago. They won only when and every time he had more than 20 points. Hence, Boston took a 2-1 lead over Chicago. The Bulls however were not done. With more All-Star performances from Derrick Rose, Chicago won Games 4 and 6 to force Games 6 and 7. Game 6 was a dogfight, one that went into a third overtime period where Derrick Rose saved Chicago by blocking Boston’s crunch-time attempt at taking the lead.
Unfortunately, Chicago faced a defeat in Game 7, and so came the end of Rose’s first playoff run, ultimately losing in 7 games but putting the league on notice for the seasons to come.
The season that followed followed a more or so similar pattern: Derrick Rose showcasing his athleticism and ball handling alongside his leadership and court vision, the Bulls’ young core fighting for a playoff spot, and another early-round exit.
Rose’s second playoff run saw the Chicago Bulls face a similar fate: losing in the first round to the Lebron-led Cleveland Cavaliers. Nevertheless, the fans were far from worried: this team had finally found the missing piece in Derrick Rose and he had already made his first All-Star appearance in only his sophomore year.
MVP Season
For the young, rapidly rising star, it wasn’t out of the question to see him go from ROTY to All-Star to All-NBA in consecutive years. However, the idea of going from All-Star to MVP in back-to-back seasons seemed out of reach for even Derrick Rose.
Long story short – it wasn’t. Rose won MVP the very next season and helped Chicago clinch its first 60-win season and first 1st seed finish since Michael Jordan. This time the playoffs were different. The Bulls had not spent the season fighting for a playoff spot, but rather fighting for the 1st seed.
This team was a championship contender, and they played like a contender. First round; won in 5. Second round; won in 6. Conference finals; up 1-0. Unfortunately, they lost to the Lebron James-led Miami Heat, a team that would go on to win 2 championships in its short 4-year lifespan.
ACL Injury
Just as swiftly as everything was trending up, it all came crashing down for Derrick Rose and the city of Chicago. During the 2011-12 season, Rose fell out of the MVP conversation, faced several injuries, and was outshined by many others around the league. Worst of all was what happened in Game 1 of the playoffs that year.
The Bulls finished the season again with the 1st seed and dominated the 8th-seeded 76ers in Game 1. With only 1:34 left in the game, Chicago was up 12, nonetheless, Coach Thibodeau decided to keep Derrick Rose in the game – a decision that would have never been talked about again if what happened next never happened. Derrick Rose injured his left knee while trying to jump. One MRI later it was confirmed that Rose had torn his ACL.
The season following his ACL injury, much to the fans’ dismay, Rose decided to sit out the season entirely despite being cleared in March. If you look back on the moment now, with the knowledge that the league-wide fan favourite, NBA legend Derrick Rose never won an NBA championship, the fans’ disapproval appears justified.
The Chicago team without their best player went up against the eventual champions and took a game from them; this may have been Derrick Rose’s best chance to win an NBA championship.
Return to the NBA
The much-awaited return of Derrick Rose was a rollercoaster of its own. Rose sounded optimistic, stating that he was way more explosive and his vertical had even increased by 5 inches. Then he played his first official game back and shot inefficiently from the field, but he made up for it two days later by hitting the game-winning floater.
Unfortunately, turnovers and shooting struggles tagged along with Rose through the first month of the season, and then an old enemy came to pay him a visit. He injured his right knee meniscus, only 11 games into the season.
At this point in his career it was undeniable that Rose was injury prone. Unfortunately, that also meant that he was never the same player again. Even though he still had his athletic and clutch genes, he lost his fundamentals; he struggled to score and take care of the ball. He seemed to have lost his confidence.
2015 Playoffs
Almost as if he knew that this would be his last playoffs with the Bulls, Rose did not disappoint during the 2015 playoffs: one vintage 34-point performance to go up 3-0 on the Brandon Knight-led Bucks and one iconic game-winning three to go up 2-1 on the Lebron-led Cavaliers.
As the Cleveland Cavaliers tied the series at 2-2 many expected Chicago to fight back. They couldn’t. This team had lost its spirit, the energy felt deflated, and Rose looked tired. Derrick Rose had lost his confidence. A man who was on top of the world had been stripped of his glory in one fell swoop and then beaten by the injury bug over and over again every time he tried getting up.
The End in Chicago
Over the next and what would be his last Chicago season Rose failed to recover his lost confidence. Though there were games where Rose was the best he had been since his injury: scoring 34 points, pouring in 10 clutch points, putting up 30/9/8, and outscoring Kyrie 28-19.
Unfortunately, his team held him back and Rose had to walk away with only losses to show for his outstanding performances. It felt like Derrick Rose was in a world of his own, playing his own game, fighting his own battles. The team that he had helped bring back to contention was now hindering his success story. Derrick Rose felt lost.
Veteran Era
8 seasons. 6 trades. 3 playoffs. 0 championships. Derrick Rose spent the rest of his career playing for 5 other NBA franchises. He spent most of those games coming off the bench. The NBA fanbase slowly started to accept Derrick Rose’s fate. They watched him sit on the bench slowly aging into a veteran, wishing that he would turn back time and one day hop back into his prime, but knowing that instead, a day would come when he would announce his retirement.
Though he did not return to averaging 25 points a night, Rose did not leave us with nothing. On a cold, dark day in October of 2018, Rose dropped his career-high 50 points and then secured the 3-point win by blocking the opponent’s final shot attempt. The 2011 MVP burst into tears after the game, knowing that for this one night, he was once again on top of the world.
Looking Back
Thus came the end of Derrick Rose’s special career. One that had started with the Chicago Bulls landing the 1st overall pick in 2008, despite only having a 1.7% chance, and selecting a franchise player in Derrick Rose.
Unfortunately, as the NBA fanbase says, like “the D that never Rose,” his prime was cut short right after his first, and very impressive, MVP season. He then journeyed through 5 NBA franchises, growing his already vast fanbase and leaving a lasting impression on the game of basketball.
I think it’s only right to end this article with Derrick Rose’s words: “… tonight was a hell of a night,” except this night was 16 years long.
