UnderdogMindset

Youngest NBA MVP to perseverance

Images

Derrick Rose
nikk_la / CC BY 2.0
Posted: Apr 9, 2023
Age Basketball Injury Persistence

Some players don't make it back after one surgery; imagine playing after five surgeries to fix your left knee ACL, right knee meniscus twice, left knee meniscus, and right ankle. Derrick Rose had to deal with all that after a prodigious start in his career. Rose won the NBA MVP in his third season after averaging 25 points and 7.7 assists and leading the Chicago Bulls to the best record in 2010-2011. Derrick became the youngest player ever to win the MVP.

Unfortunately, the debilitating injuries started after that season, with Rose tearing his left ACL in 2012. He would have to miss the 2012-13 season but would tear his right knee meniscus shortly after returning in the 2013-14 season. After returning the following season, he required additional surgery on his right knee to recover.

His first season without surgery since the injuries started was 2015-16, where he averaged 16.4 points and 4.7 assists. The subsequent season, he averaged 18 points and 4.4 assists for the New York Knicks before tearing his left knee meniscus. This surgery would be his fourth knee surgery in his nine-year career.

He would get injured again early in the next season with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2017. Then, having missed 175 out of 412 possible regular-season games since the first torn ACL, Derrick Rose paused to reconsider whether he should keep going. Instead, he would keep playing, averaging 18+ points over the next two seasons. Unfortunately, Rose had another surgery on his right ankle in December 2021. Yet, he never gave up and is still playing to this day.

Social Media

Quotes

He's tired of being hurt, and it's taking a toll on him mentally.

Anonymous

Derrick at 34, it’s incredible,... It motivates me to keep working.

Klay Thompson
References

  • Derrick Rose makes emotional return to Chicago as Knicks stay hot

    This is where Rose built his legacy. It’s where he won Rookie of the Year. It’s where he became the youngest MVP in league history. It’s where he suffered his first major injury. And then his second.

  • How Derrick Rose evolved from youngest MVP to bench veteran

    Now he’s 34, five stops removed, a backup guard with the New York Knicks and a living, breathing reflection on the passage of time. Rose’s career hasn’t gone the way he, Chicago fans or anyone else imagined based on his precocious, explosive start. But it’s still going, which might be the most remarkable thing of all.

  • This Date in NBA History (May 3): Derrick Rose becomes youngest player ever to win MVP in 2011 & more

    In just his third season, Rose, at 22 years and 191 days on the final day of the regular season, became the youngest player to win MVP in NBA history. The previous record of 23 years and 9 days was held by Wes Unseld when he was named league MVP in 1969.

  • Derrick Rose away from Cavs, evaluating future in NBA

    Cavaliers guard Derrick Rose has left the team and is seriously re-evaluating his future in the NBA, league sources told ESPN. There is growing uncertainty inside and outside the franchise about whether he will return to the team, league sources said.