Derrick Rose’s Ex-Bulls Teammate Reveals Why D-Rose is Laser-Focused

Getty Detroit Pistons guard Derrick Rose

Earlier today, Detroit Pistons point guard Derrick Rose discussed load management with former Chicago Bulls center and current NBC Sports Chicago analyst Will Perdue.

“It was just a different time in the sports world, period,” Rose told Perdue.

“Now, we have the term load management. I don’t think I would have taken it as far as Kawhi [Leonard] as far as they’re really being cautious about his injury or whatever he has. But if load management would have been around, who knows? I probably would have still been a Chicago Bull right now.”

That’s a loaded statement!

Take all of this into consideration: Rose was the first pick in the 2008 Draft by the Chicago Bulls. He’s also a native of the city’s South Side and the NBA’s youngest Most Valuable Player in 2011. His career was on the rise before he suffered multiple ACL and MCL injuries that changed the trajectory of his career.

That’s pressure.

“You got to understand what Derrick Rose accomplished,” Chicago’s 670 The Score host Laurence Holmes told me on the Scoop B Radio Podcast.

“LeBron was on a run of MVP’s and Derrick Rose broke it up. A 6’3 guard broke LeBron’s run with MVP’s, that’s how dominant he was in that season and it’s hard to forget that. When you’re a Bulls fan. Then you don’t see the same player return from injury, it got people hot and I don’t think the Bulls did a particular good job of the messaging, like they kind of put it out there. Doctors said that Derrick’s fine and I don’t know why he’s not playing. That became a thing and people who loved Derrick Rose pointed fingers like that guy doesn’t want to play when that was the furthest thing from the truth.”

That’s real.

Since then Rose has rebounded. He played well last season as a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

“He’s an amazing player, an amazing teammate,” Minnesota Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns told me.

Rose even dropped 50 points on the Utah Jazz.

“It’s somebody that had to change his game because of injury and he came in very explosive,”Dwyane Wade told me.

On a recent episode of the Scoop B Radio Podcast, I checked in with retired NBA player Tim Thomas, who shared his thoughts on Rose.

Check out a snippet of our chat below:

Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson: When you look at Derrick Rose a guy that dropped 50 points against the Utah Jazz, the season before; he did his thing. What is the most noticeable about his evolution from being an MVP at a young age, now dropping buckets but being a little older. What are you most impressed with in his development?

Tim Thomas: Just everything he’s been through and he’s still focusing on his craft and wanting to get better. You know and not allowing the injuries affect his mindset, with whatever it takes to prepare to get yourself going and back into those situations. And I can only imagine being….’Cause you know Derrick Rose was my rookie in Chicago and his first year he had the Boston series where he went off in the playoffs, so to see that and to see the injuries and everything else but he’s just laser-focused right now and I love that about him. You know they have that saying, the basketball gods are working in his favor…