Background and career
Derrick Martell Rose (born October 4, 1988) is an American former professional basketball player. He played one year of college basketball for the Memphis Tigers before being drafted first overall by his hometown Chicago Bulls in the 2008 NBA draft. Nicknamed "D-Rose", and sometimes referred to as "the Windy City Assassin" or "Pooh", he was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2009 and became the youngest player to win the NBA Most Valuable Player Award in 2011 at the age of 22 years and 7 months. Rose was born and raised in Chicago, and attended Simeon Career Academy. He was highly recruited by colleges, eventually choosing to join the University of Memphis under coach John Calipari. Rose led the Tigers to the most wins in NCAA history (a 38–2 record), their first number 1 ranking in 25 years, and an appearance in the NCAA championship game. In 2009, an NCAA investigation revealed that Rose's SAT scores had been invalidated, and as a result, the NCAA vacated Memphis' entire 2007–08 season. Rose struggled with significant knee injuries throughout his career. In the first round of the 2012 NBA playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers, Rose tore his ACL in his left knee. He required surgery and was subsequently sidelined for the entire 2012–13 season. Rose returned to play in 2013–14, but in November 2013, he injured his right meniscus, causing him to miss the remainder of the season. He returned once again the following season, but knee injuries continued to impact his availability and production. In June 2016, Rose was traded to the New York Knicks, where he finished the final year of his contract. He signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a minimum salary for the 2017–18 season but was hobbled by ankle injuries, which led to him being traded to, and subsequently waived by, the Utah Jazz in February 2018. He signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves a month later on a rest-of-season contract; he stayed with the team through the following season and enjoyed a revived role as a sixth man. For the 2019–20 season, the Detroit Pistons signed Rose to his first non-minimum salary contract since 2017, and he continued to be successful off the bench. The following season, he was reunited with his former coach Tom Thibodeau when the Knicks re-acquired him in a trade. In July 2023, Rose signed for the Memphis Grizzlies in free agency. In September 2024, Rose was released by the Grizzlies, and subsequently announced his retirement.
Rose was born on Chicago’s South Side and grew up in the Englewood neighborhood. He is the youngest son of Brenda Rose after Dwayne, Reggie, and Allan. All three were talented basketball players who taught Rose the ins and outs of basketball on nearby courts. As his talent for the sport grew, Rose began to attract outside attention, leading his mother and brothers to restrict outside contact to him. His mother feared he would be exploited and have his path to the NBA diverted by outside parties like street agents, similar to what happened to former Chicago prospect Ronnie Fields.
By the time Rose enrolled at Simeon Career Academy in 2003, he was widely noticed by collegiate coaches. Despite his reputation, he played freshmen and JV basketball for the Wolverines. He wore No. 25 in honor of Ben "Benji" Wilson, a promising player who was murdered by a gang member during his senior year in 1984. Rose was not allowed on varsity due to a long-standing tradition that head coach Bob Hambric, who had been with the school since 1980 had no freshmen on the varsity team. That rule did not lessen Rose's play, and he went on to put up 18.5 points, 6.6 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game and led both the freshmen and sophomores to city championships with a 24–1 record. Hambric softened his stance and allowed the freshman a chance to play on varsity in the state tournament, but Rose declined, wanting the players to get due credit. The next year Hambric retired and Robert Smith was hired, opening the path to varsity. In Rose's debut, he had 22 points, 7 rebounds and 5 steals over Thornwood High School in a sold-out game filled with college scouts and coaches. He led the Wolverines to a 30–5 mark while averaging 19.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 2.4 steals but the season ended after a loss in state regionals. Rose's play garnered him his first national award: a Parade All-American third team spot. During Rose's junior year in 2006, the Simeon Wolverines broke through and won the Chicago Public League championship held at the United Center, where Rose starred with 25 points and crowd pleasing dunks. The team advanced through the playoffs and earned a berth in the Class AA state championship against Richwoods High School, where a fourth quarter buzzer beater by Richwood forced overtime. The score was knotted at 29 late in the extra period when Rose stole the ball and buried the game winning jumper as time expired, giving Simeon its first state title since the Wilson-led Wolverines won in 1984. The team finished 33–4 and ranked nationally, and Rose was awarded with an All-State Illinois mention, EA Sports All-American Second Team pick and another Parade All-American selection. Entering his senior year, Rose was ranked the fifth best prospect in the nation by Sports Illustrated. In January 2007, Simeon traveled to Madison Square Garden to play Rice High School and star guard Kemba Walker. The Wolverines lost 53–51. The season's highlight was a nationally televised contest on ESPN against Virginia perennial power Oak Hill Academy two weeks later. Matched up with hyped junior guard Brandon Jennings, Rose had 28 points, 9 assists, and 8 rebounds and in a 78–75 win. For his performance, USA Today named him their high school player of the week. Simeon went on to repeat as Public League champions and defended their state championship, defeating O'Fallon High School 77–54. In doing so, Simeon became the first Chicago Public League school to win two straight state championships. In his final high school game, Rose scored 2 points, but pulled down 7 rebounds and totaled 8 assists, while Simeon big man Tim Flowers scored 35 points. The Wolverines ended the season 33–2 and ranked first in the nation by Sports Illustrated and 6th on USA Today's Super 25. Rose averaged 25.2 points, 9.1 assists, 8.8 rebounds and 3.4 steals. Overall, Simeon's record while Rose played was 120–12. After his senior year, Rose was again All-State after being named Illinois Mr. Basketball and was named to the McDonald's All-American team. He was also awarded with First Team honors by Parade selection and USA Today and USA Today First Team All-American. Rose was selected to play in the Jordan Brand All-Star Game and Nike Hoop Summit. In 2009, Rose was named the decade's third greatest high school point guard by ESPN RISE magazine behind Chris Paul and T. J. Ford, and had his jersey number (#25) retired along with Ben Wilson.
Rose accepted a scholarship to play for the University of Memphis Tigers under John Calipari, who recruited him after seeing him play in an AAU game. Strong efforts were made by Indiana University and in-state University of Illinois to sign Rose to their own programs. Illinois in particular planned to pair Rose and their five-star recruit Eric Gordon, who had played AAU basketball with Rose. Gordon, however, retracted his verbal commitment from the Fighting Illini, opting to play for Indiana, and Rose subsequently gave his verbal commitment before the start of his senior season. Rose chose Memphis because of the school's history of putting players in the NBA and the prospect of Rod Strickland, a 17-year veteran of the league, mentoring him. Rose switched to #23, due to the fact that #25 had been retired by the school in honor of Penny Hardaway. With the addition of Rose and led by veteran upperclassmen Joey Dorsey and Chris Douglas-Roberts, the Tigers started out the season ranked third in the nation. Memphis sprinted to a 26–0 start and claimed the number one ranking in the country for the first time in over 25 years before falling to the University of Tennessee Volunteers 66–62 in February. Memphis was able to bounce back and capture the Conference USA tournament to qualify for the "Big Dance" with a 33–1 record. Rose averaged 14.9 points per game, 4.7 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game during the regular season and earned All-American Third Team honors among others. He finished as a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award as well as the John R. Wooden Award. Memphis was seeded No. 1 in the South Region. Rose earned high praise for his increased focus on defense, hounding Texas Longhorn guard D. J. Augustin into a low-percentage game in the Elite Eight. In a match-up against UCLA in the Final Four, Rose finished with 25 points and 9 rebounds to lead the Tigers to an 85–67 win and a trip to the NCAA championship game against the Kansas Jayhawks. The win set an NCAA mark for most wins in a season (38). Against Kansas, Rose scored 17 points on 7–of–17 shooting, along with six rebounds and seven assists, but missed a critical free throw at the end of the second half as Memphis fell in overtime, 75–68. Memphis concluded the season 38–2. Rose was named to the All-Final Four team after averaging 20.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game. On April 15, Rose announced he would forgo his final three seasons at Memphis and declared for the 2008 NBA draft.
According to Sheri Lipman of the University of Memphis legal counsel, a month after the loss to Kansas, the NCAA sent a letter to the school stating that Rose had "an invalidated standardized test score the previous year at Chicago's Simeon High School." The next January, the NCAA sent another letter, charging Memphis with knowing that Rose had someone else take his SAT for him. Memphis started its own investigation and sent its response back on April 24. On May 28, 2009, the Memphis Commercial Appeal obtained the letter through the Freedom of Information Act and released it. Although the player's name was redacted due to privacy laws, process of elimination and sources revealed the player as Derrick Rose. The next day, in a separate investigation, James Sullivan, Inspector General of the Chicago Public Schools district's Board of Education, released a report of his investigation stating that four student-athletes of a CPS school had one-month grade boosts to alter their college transcripts. The Chicago Sun-Times revealed the school as Simeon Career Academy and that three of the four were Rose and his former teammates Kevin Johnson and Tim Flowers, prominent members of the back-to-back championship teams. The newspaper claimed that Rose's grade was changed from a D to a C. Another part of the report stated that "high school staff lost the original permanent records for three of the above mentioned students athletes" (including the unknown four). Sullivan started the investigation because "none of the grade changes were supported by any documentation." He also failed to find a suspect as "at least seven people at Simeon had the ability to access student grades and records." Illinois High School Association (IHSA) executive director Marty Hickman reacted by saying, "It is obvious that this is worth taking a look into." Robert Smith, who coached the Wolverines from 2004 to 2007, denied any wrongdoing. District spokeswoman Monique Bond said the students involved probably did not know about the grade change. Allegations surfaced that Rose's brother, Reggie, had been allowed to travel with the team for free on several occasions. Memphis contended that it had learned of the allegations about Rose's SAT score shortly after he enrolled at the school. It conducted its own investigation, in which Rose was questioned by four school officials. Ultimately, Memphis was unable to find any evidence that Rose had cheated based on what was available at the time and cleared him to play. Rose released a statement through his lawyer Daniel E. Reidy: "Mr. Rose is aware of the allegations reported in the press. Mr. Rose cooperated fully with the University of Memphis' athletic and legal departments’ investigation of this issue when he was a student, and that investigation uncovered no wrongdoing on his part." On August 20, 2009, the NCAA vacated Memphis' 2007–08 season. It took the position that because the Educational Testing Service voided Rose's SAT score after Rose's freshman year at Memphis, strict liability required that Rose be retroactively declared ineligible. It also determined that even without the questions about his test score, Rose would have lost his eligibility in December 2007 due to Reggie Rose being allowed to travel for free. On May 28, 2010, Rose, former Memphis basketball coach John Calipari, and Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson reached a $100,000 out-of-court settlement with three attorneys who represented Memphis season ticket holders and threatened a lawsuit over the vacated 2007–08 season. The Memphis Commercial Appeal first reported on this settlement in October 2011.
Rose was selected with the first overall pick in the 2008 draft by the Chicago Bulls. He was selected to the U.S. Select Team to scrimmage against and prepare the National Team for the Olympics in Beijing. In mid-July, he played two games in the Orlando Pro Summer League until forced out by tendinitis in his right knee, ending his summer, but returned in October to play all eight preseason games. Rose became the first Bulls draftee to score 10 points or more in his first 10 games since Michael Jordan, and earned Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month honors for November and December. During the All-Star Weekend, Rose played in the Rookie Challenge, and won the Skills Challenge, where he beat out several All-Stars to become the first rookie to claim the trophy. Overcoming a January and February slump, Rose returned to form and won monthly rookie honors in March. Meanwhile, the Bulls, re-energized by the trade deadline acquisitions of John Salmons and Brad Miller, finished the regular season on a 12–4 spurt to qualify as the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. Rose won Rookie of the Year, joining Jordan (1985) and Elton Brand (2000) as the only Bulls to do so. He was also the first number-one draft pick since LeBron James to win the award. He averaged 16.8 points on 47.5% field goal shooting, 6.3 assists (leading all rookies) and 3.9 rebounds per game and was also named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team. In his playoff debut against the defending champion Boston Celtics, Rose recorded 36 points (tying Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's NBA record for points scored by a rookie in his playoff debut, set in 1970), 11 assists, and 4 rebounds as the Bulls prevailed in a 105–103 overtime win on the road. Rose became the second player in NBA history to record 35 points and 10 assists in his playoff debut, after Chris Paul. Rose averaged 19.7 points on 47.5% shooting, 6.3 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game in his first playoff series, as the Bulls were defeated by the Celtics in seven games.
