Former NBA point guard Derrick Rose had an incredibly successful first three seasons in the league. During that time, he earned two All-Star appearances, one All-NBA First Team nod and became the youngest MVP in the history of the league.
Interestingly, Rose recently claimed that he imitated Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant’s approach to the game in that part of his NBA career, which ultimately left him feeling “tricked.”
“But what I was tellin’ y’all at that time, I didn’t enjoy anything,” Rose said of his modus operandi in the early stages of his pro career. “I didn’t go out to eat with my family or friends like that. No movies like that — none of that. No concerts, because I was totally locked into thinkin’ that I had to follow what Kobe was doin’, thinkin’ Kob as not enjoyin’ hisself, not goin’ on vacays, not doin’ any of that. So, I felt tricked in a way — whenever at the time I felt that way. My fourth year I ended up goin’ to the Philippines with him. I saw him relax. I’m like, ‘Oh, you motherf—– was trickin’ me this whole time. I dedicated three years — three years of thinkin’ you didn’t do s—.’ And to see you actually out here just chillin’, it kinda f—– me up.”
Rose averaged 25.0 points on 44.5 percent shooting from the floor and 33.2 percent from 3-point range as well as 4.1 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 1.0 steal per game during his MVP season, the 2010-11 season.
He also led the Bulls to an appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals later that year, which marked the team’s first opportunity to compete for a spot in the NBA Finals since 1998, when Chicago won a title with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen leading the way.
But Rose never again managed to replicate his production during his MVP season. In fact, he made just one more All-Star appearance across the final decade-plus of his NBA tenure.
While seeing Bryant relax in the Philippines might have changed his approach to basketball, injuries may ultimately be what prevented Rose from having a longer peak. He didn’t play more than 51 games in any single campaign in the four seasons after he won the MVP award, and he sat out the entirety of the 2012-13 campaign with an ACL injury.
Though Rose saw much of his time in the NBA get marred by injuries, he had one somewhat fortuitous stretch of good health years after his MVP season.
He suited up in 66 games with the Bulls in the 2015-16 season and 64 contests in the following season, which was his first as a member of the New York Knicks. Rose’s numbers during that two-season span were nothing to scoff at by any means either, as he averaged 17.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game.
If Rose did a better job at avoiding the injury bug in the NBA, perhaps he would be considered one of the better floor generals in the history of the league.
