Derrick Rose: Just the Superstar the Chicago Bulls Had Been Looking For
The Chicago Bulls owned the NBA in the 1990s.
Led by superstars Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, the team captured six titles in the decade. And if Jordan didn't retire in 1993 to take a shot at baseball, Chicago very well could have added two more titles to their trophy case.
After winning title No. 6 in 1998, the great Bulls dynasty was dismantled. Jordan retired (for the second time), Pippen was traded, coach Phil Jackson left the team and valuable role players like Dennis Rodman and Steve Kerr were not brought back.
The Bulls began to search for a new superstar to rebuild the team around. They luckily landed the top pick in the 1999 NBA Draft, which they used to select Duke forward Elton Brand.
Brand quickly proved to be a star—not a superstar—as he averaged 20 points and 10 boards per night, and took home Rookie of the Year honors. He was later traded to the Los Angeles Clippers after just two seasons in Chicago.
In the summer of 2000, the Bulls, who possessed a boatload of cap space, tried hard to sign a big-name free agent such as Tim Duncan, Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady. However, all three players wound up turning down the team's offers, leaving Chicago to settle for just Brad Miller and Ron Mercer.
The 2001 draft brought the Bulls two "can't miss" prospects in high school big men Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry. Of course, neither player turned out to be a perennial All-Star like many had expected, although Chandler is playing solid basketball this year in Dallas.
Chicago continued to search for that one megastar who would make fans as excited as they were back in the Jordan and Pippen days. The glory years.
Selected by the Bulls second overall in 2002, Duke point guard Jay Williams was expected to be that guy. Unfortunately, he ended up ruining his career due to a motorcycle accident in the summer following his rookie year.
Later, the Bulls failed to land stars like Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Pau Gasol in trades and drafted decent, but not great players such as Kirk Hinrich and Ben Gordon.
It seemed like the Bulls would never bring a franchise-changing player to the city of Chicago. That was until 2008, when the team landed the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. After making the wise—extremely wise—decision to pass up on Kansas State's Michael Beasley, the Bulls drafted Chicago native and former Memphis Tiger, Derrick Rose.
Rose would go from winning the 2009 Rookie of the Year award, to making the Eastern Conference All-Star team in his second season, to emerging as a top MVP candidate this season.
D-Rose currently ranks in the league's top 10 in both scoring and assists. He's averaging 24.5 points (seventh) and 8.1 assists per game (10th). But more importantly, he has led the Bulls to a 28-14 record, despite injuries to Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah.
Rose is undoubtedly one of the most exciting players in the game. Whether he's performing a one-handed alley-oop, throwing down a two-handed slam on a fast break or using his lightning-quick speed to take it coast-to-coast, he is continuously involved in highlight reels.
He has always had the ability to get to the basket, but this season, he has finally developed a nice outside shot. Rose has hit 66 three-pointers this year, after sinking only a combined 32 in his first two seasons as a pro.
No, Rose isn't Jordan, the player the Bulls once had. And no, he isn't Kobe, the player who the Bulls once wished they had, but he's a proven superstar.
He's exactly the player Chicago was searching for.
