NBA players often thank their teammates, head coaches, or high school coaches while winning individual accolades. But there have been times when NBA stars dedicated those accomplishments to the mothers responsible for them making it big. And Detroit Pistons legend Isiah Thomas could not have chosen a better video to commemorate Mother’s Day.
Advertisement
To celebrate Mother’s Day, two-time NBA champion Isiah Thomas shared a video of Derrick Rose’s MVP speech back from 2011 on his official Instagram stories on the account of Mother’s Day.
Isiah Thomas shared DRose's MVP video on his IG story pic.twitter.com/5tho7m0W4T
— What are NBA Celebs Upto? (@NBACelebsUpdate) May 12, 2024
After winning the regular season MVP honors following a successful year with the Chicago Bulls, Derrick Rose got up on the stage and acknowledged the people who helped him reach the level of success he was.
But at the end of the speech, Rose dedicated his whole NBA career to his mother, who was sitting in the crowd, teary-eyed.
“Last but not least, I wanna thank my mom…The reason that I play the way that I play…Just knowing that days when I didn’t feel like going into practice or having a hard time. Thinking about hurting when she had to wake me up, go to work, and just make sure that I’m alright, making sure that the family was alright. Those are hard days…But you keep me going on those hard days and I love you and I appreciate you being in my life.”
View this post on Instagram
Growing up in a hardened neighborhood of the Windy City, Chicago native, Derrick Rose knew and acknowledged the things his mother did for him growing up. After winning the MVP award at the biggest stage of his life, Rose made sure to include the person who had the most to do with where he was, and that was his mother.
Derrick Rose’s take before and after his MVP honors
Right from the start of the 2010-11 NBA season, Derrick Rose was confident that he had what it takes to be called the Most Valuable Player in the league. And as a matter of fact, he was right all along.
“The way I look at it, why can’t I be the MVP in the league? Why can’t I be the best player in the league? I don’t see why not. I work hard, dedicate myself to the game, and sacrifice a lot of things at a young age.”
Despite exuding confidence that he was an MVP-caliber player, Rose was doubted by many to win such honors, that too at such a young age. But by the end of the season, D-Rose had led his team to the best record in Bulls history since the Michael Jordan days and subsequently, MVP honors.
“Back in training camp when I said I wanted to be MVP, I wasn’t trying to be cocky at all. I knew that I put a lot of hard work in over the summer in the offseason, and I just wanted to push myself.”
The former Chicago Bulls MVP was dead-set on rising to the highest level right from the get-go and did accomplish what he had set out for. And to dedicate his MVP award to his mother might’ve been the best way to cap off his MVP season.
