A rose in the rafters

On August 21, 2025, it was revealed that former NBA MVP (Most Valuable Player) Derrick Rose would get his jersey number (1) retired by the Chicago Bulls on January 24, 2026 at the United Center in Chicago. He’ll join the likes of Jerry Sloan (4), Bob Love (10), Michael Jordan (23), and Scottie Pippen (33).

Rose was born in Chicago, Illinois, on October 4, 1988. Growing up in a gang-heavy environment, Rose played basketball to shield himself from danger. He attended Simeon Career Academy and averaged 25.2 points, 9.1 assists, 8.8 rebounds, and 3.4 steals per game during his senior year. Over his entire high school career, he led the Simeon Wolverines to a 120-12 overall record and two state championships. Rose later went on to play basketball at the University of Memphis, where in his one season of play, he won 38 games and earned a trip to the National College Basketball Tournament. Memphis would go on to make the Final Four, however, the NCAA vacated the team's 38 wins and Final Four spot due to Rose being academically ineligible to play. In the summer of 2008, Rose was invited to the NBA Draft and was selected first overall by his hometown team, the Chicago Bulls.

Rose had a very productive rookie year. He averaged 16.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 6.3 assists, while playing 37 minutes per game. He won the Rookie Of The Year Award and earned a cemented spot in the starting lineup. In his 2009 sophomore season, Rose was selected to his first NBA All-Star game where he was the first Bulls all-star to be selected since Michael Jordan in 1998. The 2010-11 NBA season saw Rose break out into a full-fledged star. He led Chicago to the best record in the league with 63 wins and became the youngest player ever to receive the MVP award at 21-years-old. He was once again selected to be an all-star in 2012 and brought the Bulls back to the playoffs. However, in the first round, Rose elevated in the paint over 76ers center Spencer Hawes and ended up tearing his ACL (anterior cruciate ligament). Rose was out of commission for a year and returned to play in the 2013-2014 season. Unfortunately, on November 22, 2013, Rose cut backdoor off a screen from Bulls center Joakim Noah in which he slipped and tore his meniscus, ruling him out for the rest of the season.

Rose was never the same after his two injuries. The once explosive, athletic, and flashy point guard became just another player in the league. He would bounce around teams for the rest of the 2010’s playing for the Bulls, Knicks, Cavaliers, and Timberwolves. In the 2019 season, Rose had a sudden surge in his production, averaging 18 points, 4.3 assists, and 2.7 rebounds for the Minnesota Timberwolves, as well as a 50-point game and receiving 3,376,277 all-star fan votes, which was the second-most in the Western Conference. In the 2020’s, Rose found himself playing a veteran spark-plug role off the bench, and even finished third overall in the 2021 6th Man Of the Year votings.

The city of Chicago never forgot about Rose. Bulls’ superfan and basketball YouTube pioneer NickTheBullsFan answered some questions regarding Chicago and Rose.

Some argue Rose didn’t accomplish enough in Chicago to get his number retired, others say his impact was bigger than stats — where do you fall on that?

He's definitely deserving, you know. He inspired a generation of children, kids, and young adults in Chicago to love the game of basketball and to become massive fans. Like he was that guy, he was the youngest MVP ever, he barred the massive what if of Chicago winning a championship if the injuries never occurred. He never gave up on the city, He always wanted to be in Chicago. Even when his time in Chicago was up, it was due to him getting traded, not due to him leaving. I mean, since Michael Jordan, it has been rough for Bulls fans, and Rose was the brightest moment since Jordan that Chicago has really had. I think he definitely deserves to get his jersey retired.

What does Derrick Rose mean to you personally as a Bulls fan?

He meant a lot, man, he meant a lot. Especially because he was one of the big things that got me into being such a massive Bulls fan, like him being the number one pick, immediately being successful in the NBA, immediately taking the Bulls from average to greatness, in his first season he had an amazing postseason, almost taking down the number one seeded Celtics. He immediately changed the team and changed the pace at which we played. That was just huge, and it's so good to see that he is going to forever be a part of that Bulls culture and that Bulls team in a sense with his jersey being retired, and honestly if I saw another Bulls player wearing that number one it just wouldn't feel right.

How do you think the city of Chicago views Rose today compared to his MVP years?

I think everyone from Chicago and the NBA views him with respect. He was given a rough go of things. He came from one of the most difficult places to grow up in, one of the most dangerous places in the country. Even after all of the injuries that he went through he never gave up. He was still a great teammate. He tried to impact the games in any way he could. While he was never able to get up to the level of play that he was at during his MVP years before the injury, he was still respected amongst everybody in that NBA circle and within Chicago. Even when he was in Minnesota and had that 50-point game he was still the hometown kid from Chicago. Obviously, he wasn't able to bring us that ring, but he did everything he could.

As someone known for being a Bulls fan online, how has Rose influenced your content or fandom?

Honestly, without Derrick Rose, there's a good chance that there is no NickTheBullsFan. He got drafted number one when I really wasn’t involved in basketball. I played it, I watched it a little, but I wasn't like a die-hard fan where it was like, okay, I need to watch every night, until Derrick Rose joined the Bulls. I was 11 years old when he got drafted in 2008 and a lot of my friends would always talk about the Bulls at lunchtime or even in class. Talk about the games, talk about the rivalry with the (Miami) Heat when LeBron went to Miami instead of Chicago. However, Derrick Rose was always in the middle of that, we're not talking nearly as much about the Bulls if we didn't have such a young and upcoming, incredible player who on any given night could be the best player on the floor. Without Derrick Rose I don't think I'm nearly as big of a basketball and Bulls fan that I am today.

Where do you rank Derrick Rose among the all-time Chicago Bulls greats?

I would say obviously you give the top nod to the greatest player ever, Michael Jordan. He brought us six championships. After that, I think you gotta give Scottie Pippen number two just because he was such an integral piece to all of those championships and you don't know how many Jordan would have won without Scottie. That's always a massive what if. After that, I got Rose at number three. There’s another big what if next tied to him because if he was able to stay healthy he might have been able to get that two spot. I would put him at number three just because his career with the Bulls really wasn't long enough for me to say, okay, we could put him above Scottie, but in terms of impact, he's up there. He inspired so many kids from Chicago to have such a love for the game of basketball. Also, look at his shoes, he's selling Derrick Rose shoes to this day and everyone had the D Roses back in the day.

 What is your favorite memory of Derrick Rose?

I have two absolute favorites, the first one would just be him winning the MVP after he called the shot beforehand. He was like, why can't I win the MVP? And then he did. No one had faith so for him to have that much self belief, self-confidence, and him having the mindset of, hey, I could do this, was just awesome. However, I've been through trials and tribulations myself and I know there are times where it's easy to give up and I know there were so many times where he wanted to give up. So, I gotta say my second favorite was when he dropped 50 with Minnesota. I definitely shed some tears when that happened. After everything that he had overcome, everything that he had been through, people saying he should retire, all this crap, he's still able to go out there and give you fifty, like that was just a magical performance, it had Twitter blowing up, everyone was talking about it, and it was just such a good flashback to what could have been. That moment was incredible.