Opinion: Derrick Rose deserves to have his number retired by the Bulls

Derrick Rose (Keith Allison, Wikimedia Commons)

The date has been set for the Chicago Bulls’s retirement ceremony for Derrick Rose. According to nba.com. it will be January 24. The Bulls will face the Boston Celtics. In my opinion, the impact Rose had as a member of the Bulls was extremely significant, and the retirement ceremony is justifiable.

Rose’s name is going into the rafters alongside four other Bulls greats. The list includes the late Jerry Sloan of McLeansboro, Illinois (number four), the late Bob Love of Bastrop, Louisiana (number 10), possibly the greatest basketball player ever, Michael Jordan of Brooklyn, New York (number 23), and small forward Scottie Pippen of Hamburg, Arkansas (number 33).

Rose played seven seasons with the Bulls. He was with Chicago from 2008 to 2016. He was then the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2008-09, and was the NBA MVP in 2010-11.

In 406 games with the Bulls, he averaged 19.7 points per game, 6.2 assists per game, and 3.7 rebounds per game. He had a field goal percentage of .448, three point percentage of .302, and a free throw percentage of .813.

There is no doubt a major turning point in Rose’s career came during the 2012 NBA Playoffs as the Bulls faced the Philadelphia 76ers. That is when Rose tore his anterior cruciate ligament, and was never really the same after. He missed the entire 2012-13 season as a result of the injury, and never again would average 20 points per game in a single season. Rose left the Bulls in 2016, and would go on to play for the New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons and Memphis Grizzlies.