Former NBA MVP and Rookie of the Year Derrick Rose announced his retirement Thursday after 15 seasons.
“You believed in me through the highs and lows, my constant when everything else seemed uncertain,” Rose wrote on Instagram in a tribute to basketball.
Born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, Rose’s hometown Bulls drafted him first overall in 2008. The explosive point guard immediately became a star, averaging 16.8 points and 6.3 assists per game in 2008-09 to win Rookie of the Year.
Rose was named MVP two seasons later, averaging 25 points and 7.7 assists per contest in 2010-11. At 22 years and seven months, he remains the youngest MVP winner in NBA history.
However, Rose suffered a torn ACL during the 2012 postseason – the first in a string of knee injuries – and was never quite the same player again. He averaged 21 points per game across his first four seasons, compared to 15.1 points per contest over the final 11 campaigns of his career.
After six seasons with the Bulls, Rose bounced around the league between the New York Knicks (two stints), Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons, and Memphis Grizzlies. The 35-year-old averaged eight points and 3.3 assists per game as a rotational player in 24 appearances for the Grizzlies during his final season in 2023-24.
On the international stage, Rose won a pair of FIBA World Cups with the United States in 2010 and 2014.
