The New York Knicks are visiting the Chicago Bulls for two straight games on Wednesday and on Friday. For Knicks guard Derrick Rose, it’s a homecoming. Rose grew up in Chicago and was drafted by the Bulls with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 draft. Prior to Wednesday’s game, Rose spoke fondly of his time with the Bulls and wished he would have che as per Mike McGraw of The Daily Herald.
Derrick Rose spent the first eight seasons of his career with the Bulls and was an All-Star for three of those seasons. He also won the NBA’s MVP award during the 2010-11 season. He was tasked with bringing the Bulls back to a level of respectability they had not had since Michael Jordan and for the most part, he did just that.
The Bulls were regular playoff contenders during Rose’s early tenure. The team made it to the Eastern Conference Finals during Rose’s MVP year where they were eliminated by LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat.
Unfortunately for Rose, he suffered an ACL injury during the 2012 playoffs that sidelined him for the entire 2012-13 season. He never was able to regain his All-Star/MVP after that.
Rose has been reunited with his old Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau both with the Minnesota Timberwolves and now with the Knicks. However, Rose was recently removed from the rotation and he hadn’t’ played in the last four games.
He is still just 34-years-old though and just one season removed from when he averaged 12 points per game in 26 games for the Knicks. He has drawn some recent trade interest as well.