There weren’t many people in the NBA community who weren’t celebrating the Chicago Bulls’ announcement last week, that Derrick Rose’s jersey would go up in the rafters in January of 2026. Some, however, would still argue that he didn’t do enough. After all, injuries cost him valuable years during his peak. Adam Amin, however, has come out to shut them up.
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Rose was the No. 1 pick of the 2008 Draft, and the Bulls choosing him was a heartwarming moment. He was a Chicago kid after all. That’s what Amin emphasized on SiriusXM NBA Radio. He represented the city, its values, and made sure to showcase humility throughout his journey.
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 he was always a Bull. The emotional aspect aside, Rose was a phenomenal player before suffering that devastating knee injuries. He was the 2011 league MVP after all. How many ballers in the NBA can boast that?
“He was born in a difficult situation,” said Amin. “He is a representative of the city that people take pride in for multiple for 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.”
“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
As far as Amin as concerned, the impact Amin had on Chicago was more meaningful than what he did on the court. “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.”
It’s a fairytale ending of the Rose chapter in the NBA. His playing days didn’t end on his terms, after all. After his injury, things were never quite the same, even though he showed flashes of brilliance in the teams he repped. What matters is that, he bounced back mentally, and will now be forever immortalized in Chicago folklore.
Rose’s dark cloud following 2013 injury
Injuries are hard for professional athletes. Missing a few weeks in itself can be a devastating feeling, let alone a career altering injury that changes their life for the worse.
Rose first injured his ACL in 2012, which forced him to miss the whole 2012/13 season. He came back, of course, but just 10 games in, tragedy struck, and he tore his meniscus, warranting another lengthy absence. That’s when the Rose started having dark thoughts flooding his mind.
“I started thinking about, ‘Why me?’ and all that stuff the day after the surgery,” said Rose to 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 truly 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 likeable personalities in NBA history.
