Subscribe
Follow Us
The phrase What If is one that will always be attached to the fleeting yet remarkably successful career of Derrick Rose. But despite the fact that injuries cut short the career of one of the league's brightest stars at the beginning of the 2010's, the Chicago Bulls saw enough from Rose that at some point in the 2025-26 season, he'll become just the fifth player in franchise history — along with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Jerry Sloan and Bob Love — to have his jersey retired.
Per ESPN's Shams Charania:
“The Chicago Bulls will retire Derrick Rose’s No. 1 jersey in the rafters next season, ESPN has learned. Rose, a Chicago native, played eight seasons with the Bulls, becoming the youngest MVP in NBA history, and is now being honored as a fabric of the organization.”
Article Continues Below
As Charania noted, in 2011, a 22-year-old Rose became the youngest player in NBA history to win the MVP Award after leading the Bulls to a 62-20 regular season record. The Bulls would make their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance since 1998 later that postseason. Almost a year to the day later, the trajectory of Rose's career changed forever after he suffered a torn ACL in the opening game of the postseason. He'd go on to miss the entire 2012-13 season and play only ten games the following season.
Derrick Rose announced his retirement only a few months back. 14 players from the 2008 NBA Draft class played in more games than Rose, who was limited to just 723 games in his career. But his impact while wearing a Chicago Bulls uniform is hard to match.
In total, Rose played in 406 games for the Chicago Bulls, averaging 19.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 6.2 assists while making three All-Star appearances. He's one of just 16 players in NBA history who have won both Rookie of the Year AND regular season MVP in their career.
