In the run-up to the 2019 NBA season, Derrick Rose has embarked on a press tour to promote the impending release of his autobiography “I’ll Show You”. Yesterday afternoon, the former Bulls great made headlines for pondering the possibility of a Detroit Pistons championship run and for comments he made on the nature of his personal legacy in an interview on Sirius XM Radio:
He continued: “These same expectations I have on me now, they were thrown on me in sixth grade… Imagine being 12 or 13 and everywhere you go, people are putting their burdens on you, like, ‘You’re gonna be the one to make it.’”
The nature of this quote is in no way controversial. While Rose will in all likelihood be the first player ever to win an NBA MVP award but not be inducted into the real-life Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (Basketball Reference gives him a 10.52 percent chance), he is certainly entitled to a sense of pride in what he has accomplished on the court. Born and raised in Chicago, Rose was a top-five recruit coming out of high school, the no. 1 overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft and has amassed a Rookie of the Year award, three All-Star appearances, an All-NBA selection and, of course, that 2011 MVP over the course of his career.
Count among his accomplishments the career rejuvenation he set into motion last season with the Minnesota Timberwolves, as well, when he averaged 18.0 points and 4.3 assists per game on 48.2/37/85.6 shooting splits. He parlayed that campaign into a two-year, $15 million contract with this Pistons this offseason. In the eyes of many, it would have been unthinkable to commit that kind of money over multiple years to Rose as recently as a year ago.
For his history in Chicago, though, Rose will long be revered, even if the totality of his career falls short of the Hall.
