Many in the NBA community celebrated the Chicago Bulls’ announcement last week that Derrick Rose’s No. 1 jersey would go up in the rafters in January of 2026. Some, however, may argue that he didn’t do enough. After all, injuries cost him valuable years during his peak.
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Rose was the No. 1 pick of the 2008 Draft, and the Bulls’ choosing him had a heartwarming subplot attached. He was a Chicago kid after all.
That’s what Adam Amin emphasized on SiriusXM NBA Radio while asking the naysayers to shut up. The Bulls insider added that Rose represented the city, and its values, and made sure to showcase humility throughout his journey.
“He was born in a difficult situation,” said Amin. “He is a representative of the city that people take pride in for multiple reasons.
“I still feel like after his playing career [in Chicago], he still represented the city… He came back, he’s humble, he still does wonderful work in the city, the respect that people have for him is immense,” he added.
Rose left the Bulls in 2016 and went on to play for the New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Memphis Grizzlies, and the Minnesota Timberwolves as well. But deep inside, he remained a Bull.
The emotional aspect aside, Rose was a phenomenal player before the ACL tear in 2012 altered his career trajectory. He was the 2011 league MVP while leading the charge for the Bulls. However, as far as Amin is concerned, the impact Rose had on Chicago was more meaningful than what he did on the court.
“The respect people have for him is immense.”@AdamAmin tells @TheJaxShow and @DarthAmin that Derrick Rose has earned every moment of his upcoming jersey retirement in Chicago. pic.twitter.com/UmbRKcVFjL
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) August 24, 2025
“With the combination of what he did, where he’s from, why people care for him, how he carried himself, and what he represented. For those reasons, I feel it’s a very worthy retirement number,” said Amin.
It’s a fairytale ending to the Rose chapter in the NBA despite his playing days not ending on his terms. After his injury, he just managed to show flashes of brilliance in the teams he repped before retiring in 2024.
Rose’s dark cloud following the 2013 injury
Injuries are hard for professional athletes. Missing a few weeks in itself can be devastating, let alone a career-altering injury.
Rose first injured his ACL in 2012, which forced him to miss the entire 2012-13 season. He came back, of course, but just 10 games in, tragedy struck when he tore his meniscus, warranting another lengthy absence. That’s when Rose started having dark thoughts flooding his mind.
“I started thinking about, ‘Why me?’ and all that stuff the day after the surgery,” Rose told the Associated Press. He wasn’t alone. All Chicago fans and others in the community kept asking why the most exciting player in the NBA at the time was so unfortunate.
Rose never fully recovered from that. He suffered further knee injuries in 2015 and then in 2017, when he tore another meniscus. A truly tragic tale of one of the most likable personalities in NBA history.
However, despite the struggle, he bounced back mentally and will now be forever immortalized in Chicago folklore.
