Derrick Rose may not have the same athleticism as he had when he broke into the NBA, but he’s arguably a better all-around player today
When NBA superstars get older, they tend to change the way they play. When Michael Jordan returned to the NBA after playing baseball in 1995, he made his patented fadeaway jumper his new go-to move.
In the late 1990s into the early 2000s, Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady played together for the Toronto Raptors for two seasons. In those two seasons, fans would turn into sports center top ten to see what dunks they did. Later on in their careers, they became lethal jump shooters.
Vince is one of the best 3-point shooters in NBA history, ranked 6th all-time in 3-pointers made. Blake Griffin and Shawn Kemp were two big men in different eras that flew over the rim like superheroes on the way to monstrous dunks. By the time Shawn Kemp made it to the 1996 NBA Finals as a member of the Seattle Supersonics, he had a respectable mid-range jumper. Last season for Detroit, Blake Griffin hit 189 3-pointers, much more than the 80 he made his first seven seasons in the league.
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Derrick Rose didn’t get a chance to have a natural progression. After Rose went down in the 2012 playoffs with a torn ACL, he struggled to stay on the court for an 82 game season, including missing the entire 2012-13 season and only playing 10 games in the next season.
He also struggled to show the athleticism and consistent speed that helped him win MVP in the 2010-11 season. Rose would eventually be traded away from Chicago to New York, where he would put up solid numbers, averaging 18 points and 4.4 assists per game on 47 percent shooting from the field.
Most fans didn’t take his numbers seriously due to the Knicks’ bad record and Rose missing 18 games. There were many concerns about whether his career was drastically coming to an end.
In the offseason, those concerns were proven otherwise when Rose signed with the Cavs. Though, because he was injured for much of the season, he didn’t last long in Cleveland. He eventually found new life when he was signed by the Minnesota Timberwolves for the playoffs in 2018.
In the five-game series that saw the Timberwolves lose to the Houston Rockets, Rose showed the basketball world that he wasn’t washed up, averaging 14.2 points per game on 51 percent shooting from the field.
In the 2018-19 NBA season, Rose showed he might not be the player he was but he is far from a scrub. He averaged 18 points and 4.3 assists per game on 48 percent shooting from the field. Rose, who was never a lethal 3-point shooter when he was in his prime, shot 37 percent from the 3-point line.
The night that cemented he was back took place on October 31, 2018, he scored a career-high 50 points, going 19-31 from the field, including hitting four 3-pointers and dishing out six assists against the Utah Jazz.
This season with the Detroit Pistons, Rose is averaging nearly 19 points per game on 50 percent shooting from the floor while averaging nearly six assists per game. For a player that many proclaimed to be done, you might be asking: how exactly is he doing this?
However, those that know Derrick Rose’s heart and determination know that this is not surprising. He has a never quit attitude and his hard work and the transformation in his game is paying off. He still has speed, mostly in spurts, but he uses it wisely. He was robbed of most of his athleticism, but he still has some. He improved his jump shot, and he still has a lot of his explosion.
When he first came into the NBA he moved at one speed, fast. He also tried to jump over and around buildings. Rose has learned how to be an effective player without having to be a super-powered human. He had to learn this through trials and tribulations, while others like Jordan evolved into a more skilled player when their athleticism began to vanish.
At 31 years old the player Rose is now is probably the player he would’ve been at this stage if he’d had a healthy career. A surprise to many who thought he was done after the 2016-17 season.