It’s been nine months since the Chicago Bulls announced that they would retire Derrick Rose’s jersey. During his visit to Manila, Philippines, Rose spoke about the significance of this upcoming milestone in his career and why getting his jersey retired was something he never envisioned for himself when he got into the league.
“Speechless for real. Still doesn’t feel real. Still haven’t taken it in yet until that moment. It’s something you really don’t ask for. I didn’t ask for that coming into the league. I didn’t. Kids now think about signature shoes, jersey sales, they think about so many things. I just thought about making it,” Rose said.
Rose was focused on other things
When Rose was drafted by the Chicago Bulls first overall in 2008, all he wanted to do was avoid disappointing the franchise. He didn’t think about winning multiple MVPs, championships or making an All-NBA or All-Star team. That’s not to say that Rose didn’t have goals in mind, but he was just so focused on making it in the league that he didn’t want to think about anything else.
“How my game was going to translate once I got into the league or when I got used to the speed of the game, little things like that. I didn’t think about signature shoes. I didn’t think about jersey sales or in the playoffs, how much revenue I was going to bring to the city just by a playoff game,” Rose added.
Rose’s game ended up translating incredibly well in the NBA during his rookie season — he won the Rookie of the Year award, averaging 16.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 6.3 assists. Two years later, he became the youngest player in league history to win the MVP trophy.
On top of these two prestigious achievements, Rose was also selected to be an All-Star three times and was the franchise player who revived Chicago basketball — until injuries derailed his career.
Rose’s legacy with the Bulls
After suffering an ACL injury in 2012, Rose was never the same player again. A big reason for that is that he injured his ACL again ten games into the season when he got back to the court. Then, by the time he was healthy again from 2014 to 2016, the Bulls’ core had already aged and run its course, hence their decision to trade their star guard to the New York Knicks.
Despite Rose never leading the Bulls to a championship, the franchise decided to retire his jersey to honor the Chicago native who helped bring the organization back to relevance for the first time since Michael Jordan retired after winning the 1998 championship.
The franchise’s gesture touched Rose, who admitted that he really wanted this moment to happen by the time he called it a career.
Rose may have only spent seven seasons of his 15-year career in Chicago but the impact he had is immeasurable. The fact that he’s getting his jersey retired despite never winning a championship or being inducted into the Hall of Fame (yet) speaks volumes about how grateful the organization is for his time with them.