In 2008 a young Derrick Rose entered the league after a year in college as a Memphis Tiger. In his pre-draft scouting report Rose was compared to NBA legends like Dwayne Wade and Jason Kidd, giving high expectations as to what he would do in the league.

 He was taken with the first overall pick by the Chicago Bulls; they believed that he could bring them out of the slump they had been in. The Bulls had not made it to the Eastern Conference Finals since 1998 when Michael Jordan was still on the team. Derrick Rose was just what they needed to reignite the fire under the Bulls. 

In his first year in the league Rose immediately began to shine on the Chicago Bulls, averaging 16.8 points per game, and 6 assists to go along with it. The Bulls were back in the playoffs this year finishing 41-41, but lost a tough seven game series to the Boston Celtics. After his outstanding first season, Derrick Rose was given the Rookie of the Year award. He beat out future stars like Russell Westbrook and Deandre Jordan to win this award.

“It’s weird to look at the players that he finished in front of to win that award. Because his career didn’t turn out the greatest but for a small period of time he was better than a lot of superstars.”  Senior Tanner Covington said

In his sophomore year in the NBA Rose continued to grow but the Bulls season ended similarly to the previous year; they barely made it to the playoffs and lost in the first round. 

In this offseason the Bulls made a few big moves, including hiring new coach Tom Thibideou. The Bulls were also able to sign a great shooter in Kyle Korver, and veteran big man Carlos Boozer. The Bulls season started off pretty slow going 9-8 in their first 17 games. People began to doubt the Bulls, but it would take time for the team to grow chemistry and win games. After these first games the Bulls started to click and were looking like one of the best teams in the NBA. 

They ended off 62-20 and were the first seed in the Eastern Conference and were known as the best defensive team in the entire NBA. Rose averaged 25 points, 7.7 assists, and 4.1 rebounds and only missed one game the whole season. He was awarded the NBA regular season MVP as the youngest player in history to receive this award.

The Bulls were able to beat the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the playoffs in an easy 5 game series. In the Eastern Semi-Finals the Bulls faced the Atlanta Hawks who were a very well rounded team. Luckily they were able to defeat them in 6 games and went to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 13 years. 

But the Bulls were faced with a tough challenge of the Miami Heat featuring Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh. This team proved to be too much for the Bulls finishing them in 5 games. 

What Derrick Rose was able to do was phenomenal, bringing back basketball culture to Chicago. Senior Crew Frost said this about MVP Rose“Derrick Rose’s MVP year was crazy because he was the first really athletic point guard in the NBA, his game inspired players like Russell Westbrook and Ja Morant.” Unfortunately after this season Rose had a devastating injury that would plague his career. He was never the same player but we all still remember the original Derrick Rose.