Derrick Rose has a Michael Jordan memory to add to the sea of anecdotes across the country and world with the early release of "The Last Dance."
But his isn't a story about competition, gambling or really basketball at all. Rose, seldom one for unsolicited public comments, shared on his Instagram the story of him visiting Jordan's Highland Park residence when he was in high school.
It almost serves as a message directly to Jordan. A thank you:
The influence of basketball isn't completely lost in Rose's retelling.
"I hooped, so I was able to see both sides of Chicago," Rose said of his upbringing in the city. And of visiting Jordan: "In Chicago, basketball is the culture, so it hold weight. So I got invited to his (Jordan's) house when I was a sophomore by Jeffrey and Marcus (Jordan's sons)."
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Rose recalled being in awe of Jordan's property, calling it an "impeccable landscape" — from the 23 on the gate, to a speed limit sign in the driveway, to the palatial nature of the actual house, to the six Bentley's parked out in front.
"Blew me away," he says in the video.
What impacted him more, though, was getting to closely observe Jordan during his visit, even if he didn't get to interact with him personally (Rose said he didn't expect to, but happened upon him hooping in his indoor gym).
"That whole time, I watched him (Jordan) every second while I was there," Rose said on the video. "Watched him the entire time. Watched him be a dad, watched him take out garbage, things I never thought I would be able to see. But I got that opportunity."
From that very night when he arrived home through 2020, the memory has stuck with him.
"I remember them taking me back home, and I’m in my room, and I got the TV off, and I’m looking at the paint on my wall, because a couple of months prior to that, I tried to paint my room with blue paint and the paint job was terrible," Rose continued. "And I remember having that jinx feeling that I had prior to actually meeting Mike. When I was younger, I always thought I was going to get jinxed because I was winning at life.
"After I met them, after I went to that crib, it (the jinx feeling) went away. F**k that. I’m going to get that lifestyle. My mom gonna live decent. Whatever I gotta do, I gotta do it. I promised myself that night that I was gonna get on a mission. And me seeing that, with MJ giving me that opportunity, it let me manifest my dreams from what I saw."
And to close, a thank you.
"So I appreciate that, MJ," Rose finished.
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