{"id":603929,"date":"2026-02-15T04:02:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T04:02:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/603929\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T04:02:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T04:02:19","slug":"matas-buzelis-found-motivation-through-derrick-rose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/603929\/","title":{"rendered":"Matas Buzelis found motivation through Derrick Rose"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chicago Bulls are ushering in a rebuild through the moves they made at the NBA Trade Deadline. With Chicago going in that direction, they still have two pieces to build around in Matas Buzelis and Josh Giddey.<\/p>\n

Both are young enough to be key pieces in a rebuild and while it\u2019s hard to potentially find motivation in a season like this, that\u2019s not the case for this duo.<\/p>\n

Specifically for Buzelis, he was named to the NBA\u2019s Rising Stars Challenge and helped lead Team Vince to a win in that challenge. But he\u2019s pointing to another Chicago legend and the moment he had as motivation.<\/p>\n

How Matas Buzelis is using Derrick Rose for motivation<\/p>\n

\"Matas<\/p>\n

This season, the Bulls honored former MVP Derrick Rose<\/a> by retiring his number 1. The banner will now hang in the rafters of the United Center forever and for Buzelis, it was a special night in more than one way.<\/p>\n

Buzelis grew up a Bulls fan and now playing for his hometown team, he got to enjoy that special moment. It also provided him motivation.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I\u2019m big into visualization,\u201d Buzelis said.<\/a> \u201cThat\u2019s something that I see and I want to achieve that. Especially in Chicago, being hung next to Michael Jordan, it\u2019s an honor to do that. That\u2019s something that I see and it put more motivation into my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

The forward had a good start to his second season and still has a lot to prove. He\u2019s flashed his potential and the thing to remember is that he\u2019s just 21-years-old, so there\u2019s a lot of room to grow. It\u2019s also cool to see that he understands how important that night was for the organization.<\/p>\n

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