Derrick Rose‘s future was set in stone over four years ago. The day he tore the ACL in his left knee during the first game in the 2012 postseason launched his uphill climb from adversity and struggle to where he is today.
The drive to the basket.
The jump stop.
The immediate silence and the large amount of Surrender Cobras (including from myself) from the bulk of the 20,000+ fans inside the United Center on April 28, 2012 was something etched into everyone’s minds watching the action.
Derrick Rose’s postseason was over and so was Rose’s ascending career with the Chicago Bulls.
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We just didn’t know it yet.
For the last four years, it’s been a battle of physical and mental endurance for the youngest league MVP in history.
Since the ACL tear, Rose sat out an entire season (2012-13) and tore the meniscus in his right knee twice (2013-14, missed 72 total games; 2014-15, missed 31 total games).
For every 30-point performance on national television against a premier opponent that made his most loyal fans shout “Rose is back”, there were the nine-point disappearing acts that made pessimists and pundits question whether Rose was just in it for the $94.8 million the Bulls paid him after winning the NBA MVP award in the 2010-11 season.
The longer Rose stayed in Chicago, the worse the arguments got.
Rose just couldn’t win.
It was going to be an uphill battle again this season; a season after the Bulls missed the postseason for the first time since before Rose was drafted No. 1 overall in 2008.
Then, the Bulls did the one thing virtually everyone thought they wouldn’t do.
The Bulls traded Derrick Rose.
The Bulls are trading Rose to the Knicks for Robin Lopez, Jerian Grant and bigger package, sources tell @TheVertical
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 22, 2016
The wounds are still fresh for those that wore the No. 1 with pride. The trade is two days old. It’s going to sting for a while and it should. Derrick Rose’s impact on the Bulls and the city of Chicago runs much deeper than just basketball.
From a basketball aspect, the Bulls did the right thing.
The Derrick Rose-Jimmy Butler duo wasn’t working and it wasn’t because of some rumored beef. The pairing’s styles clashed and they just didn’t mesh well. The Bulls suffered because of this (and the countless injuries that followed).
One player’s a former MVP with a deep injury past. One’s a rising star and one of the 20 best players in the world right now. Somebody had to go and the Bulls moved the right one.
From the aspect of the city and the community itself, Derrick Rose is Chicago. (The trademark here goes to SB Nation’s Ricky O’Donnell. When you finish this, read his thoughts on Rose.)
Next: Derrick Rose: A friend, a mentor and my big brother
“There’s no loyalty here in Chicago. He’s a hometown hero. He was the most important Chicago basketball player since Benji ,” Rahfielle Williams told DNAinfo Chicago after the Rose trade. Williams owns the Father & Son Barbershop in Englewood; Derrick Rose’s home district in Chicago.
Beale Street Bears
“It’s bigger than basketball.”
For some, it’s more than just Rose’s horrific -3.3 plus-minus per 100 possessions, his -0.7 VORP and his 47.9 true shooting percentage last season. It’s more than his 27.3 usage percentage with a 25.5 assist percentage (the lowest of his entire career).
It’s about him being a son of Chicago.
It’s about him wearing Ben Wilson’s old No. 25 at Simeon Career Academy and winning two state titles with the Wolverines.
It’s about becoming the top overall high school prospect, going to Memphis to play for a Hall of Fame coach and coming back home as the top pick in the NBA draft.
It’s about more than just wins and losses.
But, just as Rose said multiple times during his lively introductory press conference in New York on Friday, “This is a business.”
Rose recognized that.
Bulls knew they had to address Rose-Butler dynamic. They also knew Rose was walking in 17.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) June 22, 2016
The Bulls made a business decision, but the decision’s reasoning was given to us four years ago and in the years following.