Derrick Rose has had a rollercoaster NBA career, one that pundits felt would not last. After hitting the NBA record books as the youngest player to win the Most Valuable Player award, the 31-year-old’s career underwent challenges. That included undergoing six surgeries, which slowed down his rise to stardom.
In fact, it came to a point here, Rose almost called it a career. This was during the 2017-18 NBA season when he joined the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was dealing with an ankle injury at the time, and his future once again turned dark. But rather than give up, the 6-foot-2 guard refused to give in. Also, he revealed in an interview with the Boston Globe the real reason why he is still playing pro ball.
In that interview, Rose said that it was his family that pushed him not to give up. The three-time NBA All-Star dug deep, recalling what his mom went through. Looking ahead, he wants to inspire his kids not to give up.
“..I don’t want them to come in and dwell over something or with their head down thinking something is too hard. My perspective can help the way they look at certain things,” said Rose.
After seemingly getting his groove back with the New York Knicks during the 2016-17 season, things just went down for Rose. He struggled with the Cavs and went down further with the Minnesota Timberwolves during the 2017-18 season. Last year, he started getting his act together with the T-Wolves before an elbow injury took him out once more.
From there, things were not looking so good for the top pick of the 2008 NBA Draft. He was one of the high-profile and high-risk names in the free-agent market that most practically wrote off. The Detroit Pistons ended up being the team to sign him, NBA.com reported. Most hardly cared, projecting that Rose may have already slowed down. Rather, D-Rose proved everyone wrong and is now enjoying a rejuvenated career.
A look at Basketball-Reference.com shows Rose averaging 16.7 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 5.9 assists in 27 games. Though they are still a tad short from his career-highs, the former MVP is showing that he still has the hops.
Right now, Rose is simply banking on will power to prove that he can still ball with the young guys of the league. But more importantly, the 2009 NBA Rookie of the Year is proving to one, and all that perseverance still pays.
