Detroit Pistons veteran point guard Derrick Rose has been making quite a bit of noise this season as a potential Sixth Man of the Year winner. The former MVP winner is currently averaging 17.8 points (on 49.0 percent shooting), 2.3 boards, and 5.8 dimes, and he has proven to be one of the most potent forces of any second unit in the entire league this season.
When asked to talk about his recent resurgence, Rose admitted that he draws inspiration from none other than Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant:
“Like I said, it’s about making that adjustment,” Derrick Rose explains, via K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. “It would show that I adapted to this style of play and the league now. A person I always looked up to is Kobe [Bryant]. I want to be mentioned with him. I’m trying to play as many years as possible for one. For him to play and adapt to every generation and style of play, it shows his greatness. When people think about me, I want them to think about my career and see that I could play different ways.”
Derrick Rose is obviously a huge fan of Kobe, and as it turns out, one of the things he admires the most about the five-time NBA champ is Bryant's longevity in the league.
Rose then went on to talk about potentially winning the Sixth Man of the Year trophy this season:
“If they give it to me, it’s cool,” Derrick Rose said. “But my job is to show I can still hoop. I want to win a championship one day. The accolades I get are cool. But individual awards aren’t my goal. Winning is.”
Rose already has the penultimate individual award in the bag, so at this point, everything else is icing on the cake. As he said above, in his mind, the collective accomplishments of his team go far beyond any individual accolade.
While Derrick Rose's Pistons aren't going to win anything, perhaps he's traded to a contender so he can show off his skills in games that actually matter.
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