Derrick Rose, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls and the league’s MVP in 2011, announced his retirement on Thursday.
Rose was the league’s rookie of the year in 2008-09 for the Bulls, was the league’s MVP two seasons later and was an All-Star selection in three of his first four seasons. A major knee injury during the 2012 playoffs forced him to miss almost two full seasons and he contemplated stepping away from the game several times, but always returning.
He would go on to play for five other franchises other than the Bulls, including New York, Detroit, Minnesota and Cleveland. He played his final season in Memphis — the city that he called home for his one season of college basketball.
“You believed in me through the highs and lows, my constant when everything else seemed uncertain,” Rose posted on Instagram on Thursday in a letter to the game, serving as his retirement announcement.
Rose averaged 17.4 points and 5.2 assists in 723 regular-season games. He played in 24 games with the Grizzlies last season and when the season ended Rose spoke at length about what a return to Memphis meant to him.
“It’s all full circle,” Rose said in April. “Coming back here, having my family here, my wife’s family is from here, being back in this arena, having some of the people that came to my college games actually come to my professional games here, it’s all love.”
Rose dealt with at least four knee surgeries over the years, took time away during the 2017-18 season last season to contemplate his future while dealing with ankle issues and sat out nearly two full seasons — after the knee injury in 2012 — when he should have been in his prime.
He averaged 21 points per game before the ACL tear 12 years ago, and 15.1 per game in the seasons that followed.
