2011-12 Chicago Bulls Preview: Why Derrick Rose Will Win a 2nd MVP in 2011-12

At the end of the 2011-12 NBA season, Derrick Rose won't have "NBA champion" to add to his resume, but he will have "two-time NBA MVP" to add to it, and here is why.  

Derrick Rose is a truly rare talent.  He has the speed, handles and explosive first step of a point guard mixed with the strength, physicality and ability to finish like a small forward.  There is a tenacity and determination about Rose that makes him such an explosive player, a true leader and a nightmare to guard.

Derrick Rose plays the game each and every night like it is his last, and that is one of the aspects of who he is that makes him so special.  There has never been a moment in Rose's NBA career where his commitment and ability to show up when his team needs him has been in question, unlike players like LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony. 

After winning the 2010-11 MVP trophy and getting his Chicago Bulls to the quarterfinals of the NBA playoffs, here is what Rose had to say coming into this year: 

"This year our goal is nothing else but an NBA championship. It wasn't my teammates’ fault we lost last year; it was me.’’

It was the 2010-11 MVP's fault?  It certainly wasn't all his fault, but I love the way Rose answers when asked about last year's playoff loss.  While most players would answer in a similar way yet sound phony, it's the authenticity and honesty in his young, enthusiastic voice that makes his answer more real than theirs.

Derrick Rose, at the age of 23, has figured out something that it takes some people their entire lives to understand. He has found out that leading with your actions is stronger and more motivating than leading with your words.

Derrick Rose doesn't say one thing and do another like other NBA players.  He doesn't blame the lack of production from the talent around him like Kobe, or shift the focus off himself and place it on the media like LeBron.  Derrick Rose, on the other hand, understands what being a leader truly means, and that is what makes him the most valuable player to his team in the NBA. 

Rose understands that if he, the captain and leader, can't find a way to outplay everyone else in the NBA and make his teammates better, the blame is on him.  Rose understands that being a leader is more than a title, it is more than using words to motivate.

Leadership is doing what others need to do first and getting them to understand that they are capable of the achieving the potential that exists within them.

Rose is the definition of humility.  He draws attention to himself by the way he plays, not by the words he says, and when that attention is given to him, he points it back to his teammates in an authentic way. 

The MVP trophy is supposed to be given to a player in the NBA who is the most valuable to his team, and that is exactly what Rose is.  Rose doesn't win scoring title after scoring title, or even put up ungodly numbers every night.  Rose isn't valuable to the Chicago Bulls because of his production, he is valuable to the Bulls because of who he is.

Rose is valuable to the Chicago Bulls and the most valuable player in all of the NBA because he is an authentically humble player and leader who leads with his actions and let's them speak louder than his words.  

I guarantee Derrick Rose will average a double-double this year (24.5 ppg, 10.3 apg) and the Chicago Bulls will be in the Eastern Conference Finals, but that won't be why he wins the NBA MVP trophy in 2011-12.

Derrick Rose will win the 2011-12 NBA MVP trophy because he is the definition of an effective leader, on a team that desperately needs one.  Rose encompasses the type of leadership, rooted in his actions, that outspoken players like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard will never understand or have. 

Without Derrick Rose and his action-oriented leadership, the Chicago Bulls would be a below-average NBA team, and that is why he is the most valuable player in the NBA.