Derrick Rose's last moment of playoff heroics came back in 2015, when he banked in a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to stun LeBron James' Cavaliers and give the Bulls a 2-1 series lead in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
At least until Wednesday night.
Rose's career resurgence continued in his unlikely tear for the Knicks, coming off the bench to score a team-high 26 points in game two to even up the series with the Hawks. The 32-year-old added four rebounds, four assists and shot 2-for-3 from beyond the arc, all while helping orchestrate a furious rally in the second half, where New York erased a 13-point deficit.
For Rose, his latest unlikely hero moment was another opportunity to reflect on the shaky status of his career just a few short months ago.
"My appreciation is at an all-time high," Rose said. "Not just in the playoffs. I'm just appreciative to be in the league. There's a lot of guys my age or a bit older that feel like they can still hoop. There's a lot of guys younger than me that are out of the league and want another opportunity. My job is to play as hard as I can and do it for those guys."
Rose, now playing on his fourth team since 2017, looked to be far removed from his MVP level with the Bulls when the Knicks made a deal to bring him back for a second tenure back in February, sending back just a second-round pick and struggling point guard Dennis Smith Jr. to the Pistons in return. Since February, Rose helped turn New York's offense around, led the team to a fourth seed and was named one of three finalists for the league's Sixth Man of the Year award. He was the sixth man to take the court for the Knicks on Wednesday, but number one in terms of importance to the team's crucial victory in game two.
"I'm very fortunate to be in this position," Rose said. "Not only am I in the league, I'm on a great team and they allow me to come here and play the way I play. That's all any player can ask for."
Rose's success is a shock to many, except for those who were with him in his prime years. He may be a different player now than he was 10 years ago, by his own admission, but those who watched him win an MVP in his early 20s never doubted Rose's ability to be productive in the latter half of his career.
"I always felt like he was going to be a consistently good basketball player," Taj Gibson said. "It's not even about the pop and the burst. The fundamentals are there. left hand, right hand, he can do it. It's not even about the athleticism. Now it's all-around."
Gibson shared the court with Rose in his prime, and both are now faces of the resurgent Knicks. For Rose, this is his second try at revitalizing the long-suffering franchise, with his previous tenure ending with a struggle to thrive in Phil Jackson's triangle offense, and an impromptu trip back home to Chicago without team permission to ponder his basketball future. Four years later, an absent Rose would cripple New York's playoff chances given his importance to the team. All it took to make that drastic change was a tie to his previous success with Gibson and Tom Thibodeau.
"I already knew he was going to come out of that," Gibson said. "That's just the way he's built. He's from Chicago. Just the growth of it, how he's really locked in, he's really out there going full steam. It's not 'take me out' or anything…he's really into it. It's a testament to his heart."
Rose is clearly in a new mental space in his second tenure with the Knicks, and as his minutes increase in added intensity of the playoffs, his physical state may come into question. But despite his history with knee injuries and his age, Rose insists he's ready to continue doing whatever it takes to get the Knicks the playoff victories they hoped for when he signed in New York five years ago.
"I'm good, man," Rose said after playing nearly 39 minutes on Wednesday. "I prepped myself for this. I've been working my butt off for a couple years now, just prepping myself and getting my body right. I take care of myself pretty good…I'm good."
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