The Rose that Grew from the Concrete — Thorns and All
I will never forget the first time I saw Derrick Rose play basketball. I actually tuned-in to ESPN that night to watch a ballyhooed junior, future NBA point guard named Brandon Jennings and the #1 ranked Oak Hill Academy take on some Simeon team from Chicago. It took Rose a few minutes to get going, but when he did — good lord — he was on a whole different level than anyone else on the court that night (which also included future NBA draft pick Nolan Smith).
I had never seen such a violent display of athleticism before in my life. Rose would jump in the air, feel the defender, then twist and contort his body so suddenly that the defender wouldn’t even react. The way he exploded off the ground seemed to defy physics. His open court speed was ungodly — at one point he went baseline-to-foul line, while slicing through defenders, in 4 dribbles. As a fellow class of 2007-point guard (albeit a 0-star recruit), I watched that game and tried to convince myself that Rose did not play the same position as me just to feel better about myself — NO point guard can be that explosive! A point guard can NOT be the most athletic player on the court! I didn’t realize it at the time, but I had witnessed a major evolution in the game of basketball that January night in 2007— the dawn of the mutant, uber-athletic point guard era was upon us and an 18-year-old Derrick Rose was leading the charge.
Fast forward about 9 years — Derrick Rose is being asked by a reporter how he will stay in-shape while he is away from the Knicks for his trial (more on this later). Rose responds, “I do penitentiary workouts.” While Rose goes on to explain the types of exercises he will do in his hotel room, his nickname for his workout seems like it could be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
During his rapid rise to the top of the NBA, Rose’s ability to read and quickly react to defenders made him special on the court. Today, and really for the last couple of years, Rose’s read and quickly react mentality has failed him in off-the-court contexts — often leading to Rose eating crow with his unrefined statements. It seems that every time we hear from Rose, he’s proclaiming he’s back and better than ever or that the Knicks are a “Super Team”.
Earlier in his career, we loved his brazen bravado in interviews. Today, we collectively roll our eyes and wonder why can’t this guy ever just shut up and play? Combine his delusional boasting with the disturbing details of the gang rape allegations against him and 2 of his friends and, all of a sudden, Derrick Rose has become a very unlikable person.
How did we get to this point with Rose? Five years ago, he was the youngest MVP and arguably one of the greatest athletes in NBA history. He was a darling of both NBA pundits and the fans. He was a badass on the court and affectionately raw off the court. He was Chicago’s next basketball savior — and, for a hot minute, he deserved every accolade he received.
If professional athletes were given scores based on their (1) Skill and (2) Likability (0 to 10 scale for each category), then, during the 2010-2011 season, Derrick Rose would have easily outscored LeBron James as the #1 NBA player on that list. Fast forward 4–5 years and he’s in Greg Hardy’s territory. Let’s take a look at the timeline for Rose’s incredible rise and rapid dissent.
To help peg Rose correctly in this timeline, here are some examples of where other famous and infamous athletes stack up on this chart:
Here we go:
October 4, 1988
- Derrick Rose is born.
January 2007
- Derrick Rose goes for 29p-9a-8r in an upset win over the much-hyped Brandon Jennings and #1 Oak Hill Academy on national television — Game Highlights.
- Skill: 3 / Likability: 5
April 2008
- Kansas beats Memphis in a thriller of an NCAA Championship. Despite the loss, Rose separates himself from the rest of the NBA draft prospects during the season and tournament.
- Skill: 4.5 / Likability: 7
May 2009
- After winning Rookie of the Year, Rose becomes the 2nd player in NBA history to record 35p-10a in his first ever playoff game.
- Skill: 6 / Likability: 8
August 2009
- Memphis basketball is sanctioned, forced to vacate all of its wins, and take down its Final Four banner because Derrick Rose had a friend take the SAT for him (after he already failed the ACT multiple times).
- Skill: 6 / Likability: 8 (no one gave a fuck — Rose was too fun to watch)
May 2011
- After publicly stating that he refused to recruit LeBron James to the Bulls, Derrick Rose becomes the youngest player in NBA history to win the MVP.
- Skill: 8 / Likability: 9 (hating on LeBron made you cool in 2011 — just ask the NBA writers who didn’t put LeBron on their MVP ballots that year)
December 2011
- Derrick Rose signs a 5y/$94.8M extension with Bulls — Rose is seen as the Anti-LeBron and has been anointed by the basketball gods to battle LeBron and others “cheating” the process by teaming up on Super Teams.
- Skill: 8.5 / Likability: 9
May 2012
- Rose tears his ACL in the 1st round of the playoffs — even die-hard Heat fans feel awful for Rose’s misfortune.
- Skill: 8 / Likability: 9
September 2012
- Adidas drops inspirational #TheReturn series for new D-Rose sneakers. However, Rose is nowhere near returning to the court.
- Skill: 7 / Likability: 8.5
March-May 2013
- Rose is cleared by team doctors to play, but doesn’t trust his knee enough to play yet. He essentially spends the last 2 months of the season listed as “day-to-day”, but never returns. LeBron and Heat beat Bulls in playoffs and win their second NBA title in a row.
- Skill: 6 / Likability: 7
September 2013
- Adidas drops second inspirational commercial for new D-Rose sneakers.
- Skill: 6 / Likability: 8 (Cool Commercial Doctrine — always increases likability)
November 2013
- Rose tears his meniscus and misses rest of season. His career begins to resemble Penny Hardaway’s injury-plagued career.
- Skill: 5 / Likability: 6
September 2014
- Rose disappoints with Team USA, yet claims to be an even better shooter, player than when he was younger. People begin to get annoyed with Rose’s constant self-proclamations (or perhaps we just never noticed his arrogance in the past because of his immense talent? Hmm…).
- Skill: 4 / Likability: 5
March 2015
- PowerAde drops a DOPE commercial featuring Rose and a Tupac voiceover.
- Skill: 4 / Likability: 6.5 (Cool Commercial Doctrine)
May 2015
- Rose banks-in buzzer-beater against LeBron-led Cavs to give Bulls 2–1 lead in second round of playoffs, brings Lil’ Derrick to post-game podium (LeBron responds with buzzer-beater in Game 4 and Cavs go on to win series).
- Skill: 5 / Likability: 6.5
August 2015
- Woman files civil suit against Rose and 2 others for allegedly gang-raping her in 2013 — details are scarce, no criminal charges are filed, and Rose’s attorney’s frame story as a money-grab by plaintiff.
- Skill: 5 / Likability: 5
May 2016
- Bulls disappointing season ends as team fails to reach playoffs. Rumors of rift between Jimmy Butler (clearly the Bulls best player) and Rose surface early and don’t go away as Rose’s star attitude and shot selection hardly match his production.
- Skill: 4 / Likability: 4
June 2016
- Rose is traded to Knicks; promptly declares Knicks to be a “Super Team” at press conference.
- Skill: 4 / Likability: 3
August 2016
- Details of gang-rape allegations emerge as depositions and interviews are published. Rose’s lawyers’ “slut-shaming” tactic and push to lift plaintiff’s ‘Jane Doe’ pseudonym are criticized by judge. Rose’s apparent devil’s threesome/foursome fetish is made public via his and the plaintiff’s depositions.
- Skill: 4 / Likability: 2
September 2016
- LAPD memo goes public and states that police are also conducting criminal investigation into gang-rape matter.
- Skill: 4 / Likability: 1.5
Just look at the range between Rose’s apex score and present-day score (see below)— Rose was essentially the Stephen Curry of the NBA less than 5 years ago. Today, he’s hovering around the Greg Hardy/ Rae Carruth range. He’s gone from a top player in the NBA to a below-average point guard and from a likable kid to a scumbag in the eyes of many. There has not been a more dramatic rise and subsequent fall-from-grace during a professional athlete’s playing career in my lifetime.
It is difficult to re-watch Rose’s high school highlights these days — his youth, his God-given talent, the joy he played with — those rose pedals were a real thing of beauty. Sadly, those petals have since shriveled — a reminder of what once was — and all we are left with are the thorns.
