The team held a Derrick Rose Night during halftime of their game against the New York Knicks to honor the Chicago native who retired before the season
After being waived from the Minneapolis Timberwolves shortly before the current NBA season started, Derrick Rose decided to retire from the game after playing 16 seasons, and the team that drafted him, the Chicago Bulls, gave him a tribute on Saturday, Dec. 4.
According to NBA.com, the Bulls held a Derrick Rose Night during halftime of their game against the New York Knicks to honor their former player. The Chicago native was his hometown team’s No. 1 NBA Draft pick in 2008. At halftime, he took center stage on the basketball court to acknowledge the love and support he received from the team that drafted him.
Once a video tribute to him concluded, Rose entered the hardwood with his wife and children to join his mother on the court, and after being acknowledged by the crowd who stood on their feet as they chanted “MVP, MVP,” the emotional former guard spoke to the arena in front of basketball fans, family, friends, former teammates, and opponents.
“I want to thank everybody for coming out and the Bulls for allowing this to go on,” Rose said. “Every teammate to make time, all your guys who came to love and support, but I really want to talk to the kids.”
He pivoted to tell the crowd about one of the lessons he has given his son to encourage greatness in whatever he does.
“At the beginning of the video, I mentioned to PJ, ‘Do you want to be good or great?’ He don’t know, but that’s my way of tricking him. With me tricking him, I could be very specific and say, ‘Do you want to be good at basketball? Or do you want to be great in basketball?’ I want to make it broad, so when he says great, I can hold you accountable for everything you are not being great at. That’s the thing he (has to) pass on to his siblings and a joke we have in the house. If we see you lacking on something they say, ‘Dad, you want to be good or great?’
He acknowledges the Chicago faithful for supporting him from his early basketball playing days through his career in the NBA. He also stated that, since his playing days are over, he is now a businessman.
“Being great, sometimes you’re going to be disliked,” he continued. “You have to show courage (when) people dislike you or whatever. It’s, ‘I’m confident in my choice; I’m confident I will make it. I want to be great.’ Thank you, Chicago, for forcing me to be great, putting those expectations on me, my understanding that I was trying to be great and the environment I was in forcing me to. So thank you to everybody who watched me ever since I was in sixth grade, seventh, eighth, the injuries, MVP, playoff wins, and playoff losses. That is going to be the old Pooh. This is the new version of me. This is what you see. I am a businessman now.”
The Chicago native won the Rookie of the Year award and was picked to represent his team in the All-Star team in three of his first four seasons. In 2011, he became the league’s youngest MVP when he had a tremendous first season in the NBA. He was just 22 years old at the time.
The Bulls also announced that he will have his No. 1 jersey raised to the roof next season, joining the likes of other luminaries who played for the Bulls, such as Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Bob Love, and Jerry Sloan.
Rose also played for the New York Knicks, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Minneapolis Timberwolves, the Detroit Pistons, and the Memphis Grizzlies.
