The Chicago Bulls are retiring Derrick Rose’s No. 1 jersey on Saturday in a post-game ceremony on the United Heart in Chicago after their contest with the Boston Celtics.
The Bulls are honoring their hometown hero and youngest NBA MVP for his influence and legacy with the franchise and within the metropolis that loves its hoops the place he grew up.
Rose, 37, will grow to be the fifth participant in Bulls historical past to obtain this honor when No. 1 goes into the rafters on Saturday night. With that in thoughts, we wished to have a look again on the 5 most memorable moments of his total profession (not simply with the Bulls) that led to this particular night in his hometown.
The second Derrick Rose sees his banner for the primary time and is joined by his household, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, and Kirk Hinrich 🥹 pic.twitter.com/0Mh6VGTbXl
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) January 23, 2026
1. Derrick Makes A Nationwide Identify For Himself With Meanstreets ExpressIn the summer time of 2006, Rose, a rising senior at Simeon (Chicago), teamed up with Eric Gordon, one other supremely proficient guard from North Central (Indianapolis), to kind the most effective backcourt duos ever seen on a summer time journey ball workforce. The Class of 2007 is likely one of the greatest ever produced, and Rose and Gordon shared the highlight with names that summer time, corresponding to Kevin Love of the SoCal All-Stars, O.J. Mayo of the D1 Greyhounds, and Michael Beasley of D.C. Assault.
The controversy raged all summer time as to who was the nation’s greatest prospect in that class. Many felt it was Love, some felt it was Beasley, Mayo had probably the most publicity, however Rose and Gordon had been arguably probably the most spectacular. Meanstreets Categorical packed gyms and took house the 2006 Nike Peach Jam, as Gordon scored 25 factors within the title recreation whereas Rose added 13 factors, 4 rebounds and 6 assists.
Despite the fact that Meanstreets was on the incorrect aspect of a loss to the D1 Greyhounds in a memorable recreation on the Huge Time Match in Las Vegas, Rose was already a nationally identified determine. His last journey ball event that summer time cemented Rose’s standing as a grassroots basketball legend and as one of the crucial explosive level guards anybody had ever evaluated as much as that time.
2. Derrick Leads Memphis On NCAA Match Run
The Memphis Tigers finally misplaced one of many nice nationwide championship video games of all time to Kansas in 2008, however John Calipari and Rose mixed to provide one of the crucial dominant seasons we have ever seen in school basketball. Memphis started the season ranked No. 3 within the nation and went on to win its first 26 (!) video games, claiming the No. 1 rating within the course of. The Tigers’ lone lack of the season got here in opposition to No. 2 Tennessee, 66-62, in one of the crucial anticipated regular-season video games in current reminiscence.
As a No. 1 seed within the NCAA Match, Memphis cruised within the first spherical in opposition to Texas-Arlington earlier than surviving a thriller in opposition to No. 8 seed Mississippi State within the Spherical of 32. The Tigers turned it up after that scare, beating No. 5 seed Michigan State by 18 within the Candy 16, No. 2 seed Texas within the Elite 8, and No. 3 seed UCLA by 15 within the Closing 4 to advance to the nationwide championship recreation.
As destiny would have it, Rose missed a vital free throw within the closing seconds of the title recreation, and Mario Chalmers tied the sport on a 3-pointer that can ceaselessly stay in infamy.
On August 20, 2009, the NCAA vacated Memphis’ total season and NCAA championship recreation run. Rose’s SAT rating was invalidated after the season and it was realized his brother Reggie Rose was allowed to journey with the workforce totally free. In mild of what is transpired with the NCAA and its eligibility guidelines and the de-emphasis on the SAT within the years since, do Rose’s followers even care about an NCAA ruling? Does that actually wipe out the season Rose and his teammates had or the recollections of that memorable NCAA tourney run?
3. Derrick Is Drafted No. 1 Total By The Hometown Chicago Bulls
Chicago had solely a 1.7 p.c probability of successful the NBA Draft lottery in 2008, however some “divine” intervention led to a miracle that noticed the Bulls win the lottery with Rose, a son of Chicago, slated to be the runaway No. 1 decide within the draft. The remainder was historical past. The Bulls went for the cat-quick, explosive guard with out a lot of a second thought after his lone season at Memphis.
For the Bulls, the chance to choose Rose was a revelation. The post-Jordan years had been an entire nightmare for the group to that time, so the concept that a child who was probably the most well-known highschool basketball participant within the metropolis since Benji Wilson was coming house to begin his NBA profession was actually an injection of life right into a franchise that desperately wanted it.
4. Derrick Is The Youngest Ever NBA MVP At 22
All of the potential and expertise that Rose had proven as a youthful participant arising by the ranks at Simeon and with Meanstreets Categorical reached its zenith when Rose was named the 2010-11 NBA MVP. At 22 years and 6 months previous, Rose grew to become the youngest MVP in league historical past, carrying the uniform of his hometown workforce.
He was solely the third participant since 1972-73 to have 2,000 factors and 600 assists in a single season, becoming a member of Michael Jordan and LeBron James. At such a younger age, he was taking part in at a stage few within the recreation had been, and the probabilities appeared countless to the heights his recreation might attain. In what’s now seemed again upon as one of many NBA’s most talent-laden eras, a youthful Rose stood above giants for a single season.
It is onerous to look again and never marvel what might have been if Rose by no means suffered that first fateful knee harm within the closing minutes of the Bulls’ Recreation 1 win over the Philadelphia 76ers within the first spherical of the 2012 Japanese Convention Playoffs.
5. Derrick’s Defining 50-Level Recreation To Open The 2018-19 Season
It is no secret that the post-ACL years introduced loads of hardship for Rose. As a participant who relied on his first step, the lack of explosiveness usually proved expensive. Nonetheless, on Halloween evening in 2018, Rose turned again the clock in a Minnesota Timberwolves jersey and poured in a career-high 50 factors to beat the Utah Jazz, 128-125.
It was becoming that the Timberwolves wore classic uniforms that evening, as a result of the 30-year-old placed on a classic efficiency. In accordance with ESPN Stats and Data, Rose grew to become the oldest participant in NBA historical past to report their first 50-point recreation that night.
Rose made 19-of-31 makes an attempt from the sphere that evening and bared his feelings on the court docket within the postgame interview. To make issues sweeter, the purpose guard sealed the win by blocking Dante Exum’s game-tying 3-point try on the buzzer.
