Rose gave hope to Chicago players
Guard’s future in doubt, but his past inspired a generation
No matter what Derrick Rose decides his future will be, two Raptors guards who have known him for years and know what he meant to basketball in Chicago will only remember him with admiration.
Rose has been away from the Cleveland Cavaliers for more than a week, reportedly mulling over his future as he suffers through yet another injury. There is a real chance that Rose, just 29, will never play again.
If he doesn’t, there is a generation of Chicago-area players who are thankful for what the Chicago native did.
“Being the No. 1 pick (from) Chicago, that was the biggest impact he had with the younger community,” Raptors guard Alfonzo McKinnie said.
“Guys like myself, just giving us a little hope that kids can make it big out of the inner city in Chicago.
“Whatever D-Rose decides to do, he will always be good in my book because of that.”
Rose was the star who helped revitalize the Bulls in the post-Jordan area, and the game in the city as well. Drafted first overall by the Bulls in 2008, he was the youngest most valuable player in NBA history when he won the award as a 22-year-old in 2011.
“The MVP year was unlike any other year I’ve ever seen,” said Toronto guard Fred Van Vleet, who grew up Rockford, Ill., about 90 miles outside of Chicago but still in Rose’s sphere of influence.
“You’d see kids, all kinds of Rose jerseys, the Adidas gear, the shoes, the commercials. It was huge, man. He really put the basketball world on notice about Chicago.”
But it went sideways quickly for the six-foot-three guard. For as good as he was — and the MVP was no fluke, he was amazing and explosive and dominant — he never had an extended run at the top of his game. He averaged 25 points a night in his MVP season, and more than 20 in the years before and after, but he suffered an ACL injury in the 2012 playoffs.
He had surgery, came back, and tore the meniscus in his knee twice more. He ultimately had three different surgeries and never again had an extended run anywhere near the top of his game. There were flashes but fans were always left wondering “what if.”
But for all his accomplishments on the court and what he has meant to the youth of Chicago off it, Rose has had issues that will in some way tarnish his legacy.
He and two friends were cleared of rape charges in a tawdry and graphic 2016 trial. He once simply blew off his team, the New York Knicks, and disappeared for a game. And a comment he made during his Bulls tenure hinted that he was more concerned for his post-basketball career than getting back from one of his injuries. That did not sit well with fans.
There was, however, no denying his skill when he was at apex of his game.
Now, in a season where he is dealing with another leg injury, this time to an ankle, and where he is posting career-low numbers (14.3 points per game, 1.7 assists), he may be done.
“It doesn’t sound good but everybody goes through their own things,” Van Vleet said.
“As a basketball fan and as a fellow NBA brother, just wish him the best and hope he can figure out what he needs to figure out. He doesn’t owe anybody anything.”