The Historic and Remarkable Career of Derrick Rose

Scott Atchison

The biggest what if in NBA history could potentially if Derrick Rose never got injured. Derrick Rose is the youngest MVP in NBA and has had a very historic career. Derrick Rose started his NBA career after getting drafted 1st overall in the 2008 NBA draft to the Chicago Bulls. His rookie season was a great entrance to the NBA by winning rookie of the year averaging 17PPG 6AST 4REB per game. Reporters already had Derrick Rose as a top point guard in the league. His athleticism and explosiveness put him ahead of the rest of the NBA by putting on a show every time he stepped on the court.

Derrick Rose started his phenomenal career in 2008 when getting drafted 1st overall to the Chicago Bulls. He entered the league headfirst by taking home the Rookie of The Year award. Winning this award put him on the map and reporters considered him a top Point Guard in the league. In his second season Rose led the Bulls to a playoff spot that was not expected. The 2009-2010 season the Bulls were projected to finish 36-46 but ended up finishing 41-41 and secured a playoff spot. That same season he really worked on leading and scoring for the Bulls averaging 20PPG.

Year 3 Rose took over in the league winning the MVP at 25PPG 8AST 4REB. Winning this award would make Derrick Rose the youngest MVP in league history and still is to this day. Rose also lead the Bulls to a 1 seed in the east with a record of 62-20, placing themselves ahead of the dominate big 3 in Miami. Rose continued his historic career into the 2011-2012 season by averaging very similar stats to his 3 previous years and landing the #1 spot in the east for the second year in a row.

Then the injury.

Game 1 of the 2011-2012 playoffs between the Chicago Bulls and Philadelphia 76ers was underway. The Bulls dominated the entire game and by the looks of it, it seemed that the Bulls had an easy ticket out of the first round. Late into game 1 when the Bulls had a significant lead on the 76ers the coach Tom Thibodeau decided to keep Rose in the game. Derrick Rose drives to the rim and lands incorrectly leading to a torn ACL.

This injury silenced the crowd in Chicago that evening. With everyone sitting and watching Rose get carried off the court left fans in disbelief.

The Bulls ended up losing the series in 6 games getting upset by an 8 seed.

Derrick Rose did not play the 2012-2013 season due to the injury. The big question concerning the injury was whether he was going to come back the same explosive player we all knew and loved.

Sadly, once again the Rose did not bloom in the 2013-2014 season tearing his meniscus in his right knee only playing 10 games that season. At this point many fans did not believe that Rose would return to playing the game he loved. Remembering history for Bulls fans, many felt that Rose would be their next Michael Jordan. Rose returned once again the next season, but fans had a weird feeling every time they watched him thinking “Will he get hurt again?”

After the 2015-2016 season the Bulls decided to part ways with Rose. Rose the later signed with the Knicks in 2017 but the word around the league was that he would never get back to what he was after suffering multiple serious injuries. Rose then signed with the Timberwolves. Rose got a good amount of minutes with the wolves and even scored 50 points in a came that brought him and multiple fans to tears.

Rose is now currently leading along side Julius Randle, the 4th seed New York Knicks. Rose is back to his old explosive moves and has used his experience to help mentor this young Knicks squad. Many people believed Rose should have been done after several injuries but that was never an option for him. Rose loves the game of basketball and we can all see the passion he has for the game. A truly remarkable career he has had through all of the ups and downs he has been through; he is truly one of the greatest.

Possibly the most controversial question sill surrounding the league: What if he never got injured?