The Chicago Bulls will celebrate one of the greatest, most impactful and most legendary players in franchise history tonight when they host the New York Knicks at the United Center for Derrick Rose night.
Per NBA.com: "Derrick Rose Night will serve as a celebration of Derrick’s retirement from the NBA, his memorable career and his contributions to the Bulls and the city of Chicago."
Spliced throughout the game will be interludes featuring Rose, his family and former teammates, several of whom will be in attendance.
As the Chicago native spent a handful of seasons with the Knicks under head coach Tom Thibodeau, who helped mold Rose when he first entered the NBA as a 20-year-old, both teams will wear decals with “1.4.25”, signifying the day of the game and the jersey numbers he wore with the Bulls, Knicks and as a high school star at Simeon Career Academy.
The night will include a halftime ceremony emceed by current Bulls play-by-play man Stacey King. King, a forward on Chicago's first three-peat team of the 1990s alongside Michael Jordan, had the ultimate praise for Rose via The Athletic in a story dedicated to Rose's evening.
If Derrick Rose stayed healthy, "he was Michael Jordan".
The LeBron James-Jordan debate will likely rage on forever. There are arguments to be made that one or the other is the greatest basketball player of all time.
But King, who played with His Airness and got to know Rose up close, claims only Rose's injury history prevented him from becoming the next great Bull:
"“If he never goes down, he retires a Bull. If he stays healthy and on the trajectory he was going on, he’s Michael Jordan. ""Stacey King on Derrick Rose
Rose, the 2011 NBA MVP and the youngest player to ever win the award, tore his ACL during a 2012 playoff game against the Philadelphia 76ers. He then tore the meniscus in his right knee in 2013 and 2015. He suffered the same injury on his left knee in 2017.
Prime Rose was one of the most explosive and exciting players in league history. Were it not for his string of injuries, as King said, he likely would have become the best Bulls player other than Jordan.
Unfortunately, those injuries prevented a historic career and potentially the next great Bulls dynasty. Still, the No. 1 pick in the 2008 draft played 11 more seasons in the NBA, speaking to his determination, drive and attitude toward the game.
An evening celebrating Rose as a player and person is worth a spectacle, even if it's not his style.