Derrick Rose came into the high school scene with his name already in headlines. College scouts were already drooling over Rose before he even played his first game in high school. Derrick Rose chose to wear No. 25 in high school to honor Ben “Benji” Wilson, a Chicago legend that was murdered due to gang violence during his senior year in high school. Despite his talent, Rose was forced to play on the freshman and JV teams in his first two years at Simeon. This was due to the head coach, Bob Hambric’s, views that no freshmen could play on his varsity team. There had not been a freshman that played varsity basketball at Simeon since 1980.

Derrick Rose took advantage of his first varsity season in his junior year where he poured in 25 points in the Chicago Public League Championship on the United Center court. In his senior year, Rose had a huge matchup against Brandon Jennings’ Oak Hill Academy. Rose’s Simeon took the win behind his 28 points, 9 assists, and 8 rebounds in the nationally televised game on ESPN. Rose helped Simeon to back to back state championships. During his Simeon career, Rose finished with a 120-12 record. He was named Illinois Mr. Basketball as well as a McDonald’s All-American. Simeon then retired his number 25.

After Rose’s memorable high school career, he went on the play for the University of Memphis Tigers under head coach John Calipari. Rose was forced to change his number from No. 25 to No. 23 due to Memphis previously retiring the number in honor of Penny Hardaway. In his freshman season, Rose averaged 14.9 points, 4.7 assists, and 4.5 rebounds per game as Memphis went on to win their first 26 games of the season. Rose poured in 25 points against UCLA in the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament, taking his Tigers to the National Championship. The Tigers fell to the Kansas Jayhawks, despite Rose’s 17 points. Derrick did miss a crucial free throw at the end of the game, that could have sealed the Tigers’ victory.

Following the defeat, Rose decided to leave Memphis and enter the 2008 NBA Draft.

The Chicago Bulls selected the Chicago kid with the first overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. Rose made an instant impact right away, becoming the first Chicago Bulls player since Michael Jordan to score 10 or more points in their first 10 games. Rose also went on to win Rookie of the Year behind his 16.8 points, 6.3 assists, and 3.9 rebounds per game. Derrick dropped 36 points in his playoff debut versus the Boston Celtics, tying a playoff debut scoring record set by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.       

In his second season, Rose was named to the 2009 NBA All-Star Game as a reserve. He was the first Chicago Bull to be named an All-Star since Michael Jordan. Rose led the Bulls back to the playoffs again, this time averaging 26.8 points and 7.2 assists in a first-round loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. In the following year, Rose started off hot, dropping 39 points on the Detroit Pistons in the second game of the season. The Bulls ended the 2010-11 season with a league-leading 62-20 record. Derrick Rose was named the NBA MVP. He became the youngest MVP in league history. The Bulls went to the Eastern Conference Finals behind Rose’s MVP season but took a loss to the Miami Heat behind LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwayne Wade.        

In 2011-12, Rose received a five-year extension with the Bulls. He once again carried them to the playoffs. Unfortunately, in the first round of the playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers, Rose tore his ACL. Rose missed the rest of the post-season and also missed the entire 2012-13 season. In 2013-14 Rose returned very strongly. However, on November 22, Rose tore his meniscus against the Portland Trail Blazers. He was once again out for the remainder of the season. In 2014-15 Rose returned, but was quickly sidelined again with another knee surgery due to complications with his meniscus. Rose helped the Bulls back to the playoffs, but once again were eliminated by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Rose played one more season for the Bulls before being traded to the New York Knicks in exchange for Jose Calderon, Jerian Grant, and Robin Lopez in 2016. He scored 17 points in his debut for the New York Knicks. As a Knick, Rose took a leave of absence without notifying his team and was eventually fined for this. When he returned, he poured in 30 points against the New Orleans Pelicans but was later ruled out for the rest of the season after tearing the meniscus in his other knee. The following year, 2017, Rose signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He scored 14 points in his debut for Cleveland. Rose this time missed two months with an array of ankle issues. He was then acquired by the Utah Jazz in a trade but waived within the next two days.

On March 8, 2018 head coach Tom Thibodeau got his point guard back, signing him on the Minnesota Timberwolves. He was reunited with his old Chicago Bulls teammates Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson. As a Timberwolf, Rose went on to score a career-high 50 points, in a very emotional night against the Utah Jazz. Rose was crying after the performance, showing how much it meant to him to still be able to score 50 points after overcoming all of the complications in his career. Rose also reached the 10,000-point plateau while playing for the Timberwolves.

In 2019, Rose signed with the Detroit Pistons. He became the first player in Pistons’ history to score 20 or more points as a reserve in seven straight games. Rose did miss some time with a hamstring injury but returned with a 31-point barrage against the Phoenix Suns.