Retirement No. 1 is yet to come for Derrick Rose, but the former league MVP still felt a lot of love Saturday from the Chicago Bulls.
With several former teammates in the building, the Chicago native son was honored at a “Derrick Rose Night” halftime ceremony at the United Center on Saturday during a game between the Bulls and the New York Knicks, the two teams that represented 11 of Rose’s. 15 seasons in the NBA. You can see the entire ceremony here..
The speakers consisted of Bulls commentator Stacey King and her Bulls and Knicks teammate Joakim Noah. The latter’s speech made Rose cry.
After a lengthy video tribute, Rose gave his own speech, which included:
“Being cool means that sometimes you won’t be liked. You have to show courage so that (even if) people don’t like you or whatever, I trust my choice. I trust that I will make it. I want to be cool. You want to be cool .
“So thank you Chicago for forcing me to be great, putting those expectations on me, not understanding that I was also trying to be great all the time, and I just didn’t know that the environment I was in was forcing me to be great. So thank you to everyone who watched me since I was in sixth grade, seventh grade, eighth grade, injuries, MVP, playoff losses, playoff wins, thank you.
Rose announced his retirement in September, with his place in Chicago basketball history more than assured. He was the local Simeon High School star who returned, by a stroke of fortune, as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft and turned the long-suffering Bulls into an Eastern Conference contender.
Injuries ultimately ended his career as an elite player, but his reception on Saturday showed that the city still thinks of him as a star. The Bulls announced earlier Saturday that Rose will be the fifth player in team history to have his number retired, joining Michael Jordan (23), Scottie Pippen (33), Jerry Sloan (4) and Bob Love (10). , with a ceremony to be held at a later date.
No, there won’t be a statue.