Former NBA MVP Derrick Rose has
announced he will be retiring from the NBA, as reported first by
The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
Rose made the announcement
official on his social media pages and also by placing ads in
newspapers for each of the cities he played for in his NBA career:
Chicago, New York, Cleveland, Minnesota, Detroit, and
Memphis.
The youngest MVP in the history
of the league at just 22 years old finishes a career full of ups
and downs, experiencing the highest of highs and lowest of
lows.
Rose was selected by his
hometown Chicago Bulls as the no.1 overall pick out of Memphis in
the 2008 NBA Draft and then subsequently won Rookie of the Year
honors. In his early prime with the Bulls, Rose made three
straight all-star teams, won MVP in 2011 in just his 4th season in
the league, and then capped it off by making the Eastern Conference
Finals that same season (yet the Bulls eventually lost to the Miami
Heat).
However, a devastating injury in
the 2012 Playoffs in Chicago’s first-round matchup vs the
Philadelphia 76ers derailed Rose from fully achieving his
potential, and he was unable to come back to that same level early
in his career. Rose went on to play for the Bulls until the
2015-2016 season before Chicago ended up trading him to the New
York Knicks.
The 6-foot-3 point guard bounced
around teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves,
and the Detroit Pistons, often to try and find his groove and mojo
back. He was a reliable piece off the bench as he scored on the
opposing team’s benches, but then again Rose never found that MVP
level again. Instead, Rose served as a leader and a veteran voice
for these teams, beloved by the organization, players, and fans
alike.
His last stop was with the
Memphis Grizzlies after signing with the team last season before
getting waived this year. Before his official announcement, Rose
posted a cryptic video hinting at his retirement from the game, and
he made it official the day afterward.
“The next chapter is about
chasing my dreams and sharing my growth. I believe true success
comes from becoming who you were created to be, and I want to show
the world who I am beyond basketball,” Rose said. “Whether good or
bad, everyone has a ‘What if’ story in their life. Even if I could,
I wouldn’t change anything in mine, because it’s what helped me
find real joy.”
