Chicago Bulls: Meeting Michael Jordan helped Derrick Rose fulfill his dreams

Two players that shaped the franchise of the Chicago Bulls in the last three decades more than anyone else are Derrick Rose and Michael Jordan.

Parts three and four of the explosive 10-part ESPN/ABC documentary series highlighting the Chicago Bulls 1997-98 title team coined “The Last Dance” really made waves over the weekend. A second straight week of entertaining parts of the docuseries gave basketball fans much needed entertainment in a time where this is little to none in the sports landscape.

On April 26, Bulls fans got to take a deeper dive into the inner workings of the duo between eventual Hall-of-Famers Michael Jordan and Dennis Rodman. MJ and “The Worm” were two of the guiding forces to the Bulls winning their three titles from 1996-1998. They were also two of the most polarizing star athletes in Chicago during the 1990’s.

Fast-forward to the late 2000’s and early 2010’s and there is a different star athlete that is one of the most polarizing in the city of Chicago. Former Bulls superstar point guard and 2010-11 NBA MVP Derrick Rose was the face of the franchise in the early 2010’s, and he is a Chicago native.

D-Rose meant everything to Chicago during his hay day, before injuries started to ravage his career. He was the native son of Chicago that was the most important hoops star to the city since MJ in the 1990’s.

He’s arguably the most popular hometown star Chicago saw in any sport in the last two decades.

In the midst of the release of The Last Dance, it looks like one of the more intriguing guests that is interviewed will be D-Rose. He was quoted in a video released from an interview of his on The Last Dance stating that “imma get that lifestyle. My mom’s gonna live decent…and I promised my self that night that I was gonna be on a mission. With MJ giving me the opportunity, he let me manifest my dreams”.

D-Rose was able to meet MJ when he was a sophomore in high school and it inspired him to really go all out for his dream of playing in the NBA and providing for his family.

Part of what this docuseries shows is the human side to MJ and how he was able to inspire so many that are still making an impact around the game of basketball today. MJ is able to command the tone of this docuseries, and interviews like this one with D-Rose show what it was like to grow up in the Windy City watching all these great Bulls teams in the 1990’s.

D-Rose is currently in the midst of his first season with the Detroit Pistons. He’s averaging 18.1 points per game, 2.4 rebounds, and 5.6 rebounds in the season that is currently on hiatus due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. Rose is also enjoying a bounce back in his career over the last two years with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Pistons.