Jalen Rose is best known today for one thing: his protractor-drawn hairline. But his Lego hairpiece aside, he was a good player. However, it did not appear that he would mature into one because he was a bit player for the first three years of his career.
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Threatening to lose steam even before the train took off, Rose was at the precipice until Larry Bird took over from his namesake, Larry Brown. The Indiana native and Boston Celtics legend transformed a faltering team into a playoff machine. Not that they were poor; they just needed validation.
That they got in spades, especially a young Rose. Every kid who makes it to the NBA realizes one thing: they are the worst of the best. 400 other people are doing it much better than them, and if things don’t take off soon, they’ll fall off. New shiny toys come in every year, and there are only so many spots on a team.
And Rose felt exactly like that until Bird publicly announced that he’d make him a star. He took that news clip and stuck it on the fridge. Jalen was encouraged and doubled his training efforts over the three seasons that Bird coached him.
Stories about Larry Bird and his time with the Celtics are aplenty – his body of work with the Pacers is not often talked about
In the three years that Larry Bird coached the Pacers, they were really good. In his first season, they improved their record by 19 and finished with 58 wins. That year, Jalen Rose played all 82 games, even though he was not a starter. His point total improved marginally, but he contributed well enough to get minutes.
And then something clicked the next season because they acquired Chris Mullin and a few other pieces. Rose took his game to the next level, scoring 11 points per game, a then-career-high. They followed it up with an NBA Finals appearance, with Rose averaging 18.2 points that season. A stellar improvement, all because of one person believing in him.
Bird only coached for three years before retiring, but his work was impressive enough to be considered a top coach. If not for his health issues, he could have joined Steve Kerr as one of the only coaches to win titles both as a player and coach.
Jalen Rose is only remembered for one performance – We all know which
You remember two things when you think about Kobe Bryant’s performance against the Toronto Raptors. One, he dropped 81 points, and two, he dropped 81 points on Jalen Rose. That’s all everyone does, and he’s mainly remembered as THAT guy. He’s taken it in stride because an all-time great was in his zone.
Aside from that one bad night, Rose has had a successful 13-year career. He averaged a healthy 14 points and won the MIP award in 2000. all because of one man believing in him. Larry Bird talked a lot of trash but instilled some belief in his players. Larry Legend is a man of his word.
