CHICAGO (670 The Score) – On a day that began with Bulls great Derrick Rose learning that his No. 1 jersey will be retired and raised to the United Center rafters next season, his most emotional moment came when former teammate and good friend Joakim Noah wound down his halftime speech in front of a sellout crowd Saturday evening.
“You always put your city on your back and you carried that with you,” Noah said as Rose teared up while sitting at midcourt on a night dedicated to celebrating him. “You’re not only the MVP, Pooh. You’re the people’s champ. You’re the people’s champ.”
That much was evident amid the thunderous roars from Bulls fans during a halftime ceremony that honored the 36-year-old Rose, who announced his retirement in September after 16 years in the NBA. The most memorable of those came with the Bulls, who selected the hometown product Rose with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft and watched him blossom into a three-time All-Star, the youngest MVP in league history in 2011 and a franchise icon across his eight years with the organization.
A product of Simeon who grew up in Englewood on the South Side, Rose had a high-flying, fearless style of play and no-nonsense attitude that endeared him to fans. Off the court, teammates and those around the Bulls often cited his humility for why they gravitated to him.
“I always say the best leadership you can have are the things that you do,” said former Bulls and current Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, who coached in Rose in Chicago from 2010-’15. “There’s a lot of guys in this league who say all the right things and do none of them. His actions always spoke volumes, the way he treated his teammates … He loves when other people do well, cares about people.
"He was the ultimate teammate and obviously a great player,” Thibodeau continued. “I could always recall looking into the eyes of the opponent when he had the ball – you could see the fear. To me, there's no question he's a Hall of Fame player. He’s a Hall of Fame guy. But the thing that I loved about him the most probably was his humility. It’s rare when a player of his ability has the humility that he does. He’s just an unbelievable person and persevered.”
Saturday was full of celebration for Rose. In the morning, Bulls president/CEO Michael Reinsdorf informed Rose that he’ll become the fifth player in Bulls history to have his jersey retired, joining Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Bob Love and Jerry Sloan. The ceremony will be held sometime in the 2025-’26 season.
At halftime, Rose thanked Chicago for “forcing me to be great, for putting those expectations on me.” In his media session prior to the game, Rose had also expressed an appreciation of playing for his hometown, even as it came with increased scrutiny.
“It wasn’t difficult for me because I didn’t go out, I didn’t go out to eat, I didn’t go to concerts,” Rose said. “I stayed in the house. So for the first three or four years, I was like of like locked in. So it wasn’t hard. I had expectations on me ever since I was younger. Sixth grade, everybody said I was going to the league. Ever since then, to live up to those expectations and to not feel like they were a burden at the time, I felt like they were all challenges because I knew how good I was. So it was great.”
Noah, Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer and Brad Miller were among Rose’s former teammates who were in attendance as the Bulls used a big second half to roll to a 139-126 win over the Knicks. Arkansas coach John Calipari, who coached Rose at Memphis, sat courtside for the festivities.
“Hope is a powerful emotion,” Noah said to Rose. “You gave people that every single day. You gave your teammates hope because we knew we had the best player on the court every single night. You gave these fans hope because they knew they were watching the most exciting player every single night. You give your city hope.”
Starting in 2012, Rose suffered a devastating series of knee injuries that derailed the best-laid plans and biggest dreams of his and the Bulls after they made the Eastern Conference Finals in 2011. Despite that heartbreak, Rose tried to see a silver lining in the injuries as he spoke Saturday.
“That's something I really don't think about,” Rose said of what the Bulls could've accomplished if not for his injuries. “The last time I had those conversations was years, years ago. And like, who knows? But at the same time, with me being obsessed, I wouldn't have found out who I was as a person. I was obsessed with the game. Not love. I was obsessed. So if I would've won one championship, I would've wanted four. And that would have pulled me away further and further away from finding self-knowledge, self-revelation, identity. And yeah, everybody's story is different. For some reason, mine ended up being this way. So coming from Chicago, we roll with the punches.”
Cody Westerlund is an editor for 670TheScore.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.