Derrick Rose is retiring – the legacy of the former MVP in Chicago and the NBA

After 16 years in the NBA, former MVP point guard Derrick Rose is retiring from the league.

The Chicago native was the No. 1 pick in the 2008 NBA draft and spent seven years shaping his hometown team before spending the next nine years bouncing between the New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons and Memphis Grizzlies switched back and forth.

Rose's meteoric rise to becoming one of the league's most exciting players was thwarted by injuries; Most notable is his torn ACL in the first round of the 2012 playoffs, which was followed by numerous lower leg problems.

NBA insiders Chris Herring, Jamal Collier and Kevin Pelton explain the three-time All-Star's career, including the legacy he leaves behind in Chicago and his unique case for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

Rose's brief – but elite – heyday was electrifying

In 2010, almost 14 years ago to the day, the 21-year-old Rose stood before a crowd of Chicago reporters and laid out his expectations for his third NBA season.

“It’s high,” he said with a serious face. “The way I see it in myself, why can’t I be the MVP of the league? Why can't I be the best player in the league? Why can't I? I work hard.”

It was a bold comment. Yes, Rose was named Rookie of the Year in 2009 and was one of the game's breakout young stars. But he had only been an All-Star once, being selected for the game just seven months earlier. On a team level, Chicago was a .500 club the season before – again, something that generally makes an MVP want a steeper climb.

But at the end of the 2010/11 election campaign, Rose seemed like a prophet. The Bulls, who finished with an NBA-best record of 62-20, were helped in part by new coach Tom Thibodeau. But no one was more responsible for their improvement than the electrifying Rose, who at 22 led the hometown Bulls and became the youngest MVP in league history.

With Chicago among the league's elite and Rose reaching meteoric heights at such an early stage – the Bulls also reached the conference finals that season – it was natural to wonder what his progression might look like; both for him and for his team.

At that point, it seemed possible, if not likely, that he would be mentioned in the basketball history books along with fellow Chicago star Michael Jordan or LeBron James – Rose's opponent in the Eastern Conference for a few years.

But that was before repeated knee injuries — a torn ACL in his left knee in 2012, two tears in his right knee meniscus in 2013 and 2015, and a tear in his left meniscus in 2017 — robbed Rose of his trademark explosiveness and changed the course of events his career.

Like Grant Hill, who battled serious injuries for years in his prime before recovering and finishing his Hall of Fame career solidly, Rose also had flashes toward the end of his NBA run. He had an emotional 50-point game with Minnesota in 2018 and was a key contributor to the Knicks' surprising playoff run in 2021 by finishing third in Sixth Man of the Year voting.

They were not the years of greatness that someone like James will be remembered for. But for a few years and a few moments toward the end of his career, Rose's uncanny athleticism and playmaking caused fans' jaws to drop. It has been an extremely unusual basketball journey with tremendous highs and devastating lows. But everyone who has seen it will remember it.

–Chris Herring

The legacy Rose leaves behind in Chicago

The fact that the Bulls took the No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 draft despite a mere 1.7% chance was a rare stroke of luck for a franchise that hadn't had success since Jordan's Last Dance.

The fact that one of the top prospects came from Chicago made the decision clear. And his arrival would dramatically change the direction of the franchise.

Rose's legacy in Chicago will live on for more than just his success with the Bulls. He grew up poor in the Englewood neighborhood and won two consecutive state championships in high school. Five years later, he led the Bulls to their only conference finals in the last 25 years.

From Rookie of the Year to All-Star to youngest MVP in league history, the first three years of Rose's career were an unmatched force, helping Chicago to its best seasons since the Jordan era. His 36-point playoff debut in 2009 was electric, and the Bulls took the defending champion Boston Celtics to a thrilling seven-game first-round series.

His poster dunk of Goran Dragic in 2010 was invigorating, a display of the fearlessness that made Chicago fall in love with him. In 2011, the Bulls were contenders again. Rose turned to his mother when she signed a maximum contract extension this year and said, “Mom, we finally did it.”

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The injuries that followed ended his history in Chicago and remain one of the most painful memories in the history of the city or team. Rose was forced to miss the entire 2012-13 season with a torn ACL and only played ten games the following season as fans expected and questioned his return to the pitch at every step. By the time he was able to play, it was clear that the injuries had changed his career. He was never able to maintain the still high expectations that were set in Chicago.

Some of Rose's key teammates from that era, Joakim Noah and Luol Deng, will to this day emphasize their belief that Chicago would have eventually won a championship had Rose not been betrayed by injuries. That's what makes these Bulls teams one of the greatest “what if” teams in NBA history.

As Rose's career wound down and he moved from team to team around the league, fans in Chicago still cheered for him when he arrived at the United Center as a visitor. It was as if they were still crying out for one last chance at a reunion and a happily ever after in their hometown.

-Jamal Collier

Rose's unique case for the Hall of Fame

Rose is perhaps the most interesting case the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame has ever seen. For decades, it has been a truism that every NBA MVP would make it into the Hall of Fame. But Rose's shortened peak due to injury makes his candidacy more difficult.

Among the 36 players who have won MVP honors, Rose's three All-Star appearances lead him only to the late Bill Walton (two), the other winner whose best years were ruined by injury. While Walton played only a few games between the fractured navicular bone that interrupted his MVP campaign and turning 30, Rose was able to return for a relatively full career but never became an All-Star again.

Unlike Walton, who led the Portland Trail Blazers to the only title in franchise history the year before his injury, Rose was unable to celebrate playoff success on the biggest stage. At age 22, he averaged 23.4 points and 6.6 assists per game in the 2011 East Finals, but shot just 35% as the Miami Heat defeated the Bulls. A year later, Rose was injured in the first playoff game for Chicago, which had won a league-high 50 games in the lockout-shortened season but was upset by the No. 8 seed Philadelphia 76ers without him.

In this regard, my championship model sees Spencer Haywood as the best comparison for Rose's career. Haywood was the ABA's MVP as a 20-year-old rookie and made the All-NBA four times after successfully breaking the league's age barrier and joining the Seattle SuperSonics. However, after suffering a knee injury at age 25 and moving to the Knicks, Haywood's career was never the same.

Haywood played slightly longer than Rose and scored more than 15,000 total career points (more than 17,000 including his ABA season), compared to Rose, who scored 12,573 points. Still, he had to wait until 2015 — 32 years after his retirement — to be inducted into the Hall of Fame after several close calls.

With the Hall of Fame casting a wider net under general manager Jerry Colangelo, I suspect Rose will eventually make it, too. Still, Rose's untimely injury makes his Hall future more uncertain than that of any other MVP winner in league history.

-Kevin Pelton