Chicago native Derrick Rose’s strong take on the city of Chicago and its part in building Michael Jordan’s NBA legacy.
Chicago Bulls legend Derrick Rose, the 2011 Most Valuable Player, is settling into post-retirement life in 2024. After 16 seasons in the NBA, Rose announced his retirement in late September. After the Memphis Grizzlies waived him before training camp, he put a bow on his professional career, and two weeks removed from that decision, Derrick joined the “Club 520 Podcast” with Jeff Teague and his co-hosts, where the Chicago native talked about Michael Jordan’s Bulls legacy in the Windy City.
Rose, who takes pride in what Jordan meant to his city, suggests that MJ’s legacy as the greatest basketball player ever lived wouldn’t have happened if the Chicago Bulls had never drafted him.
“I’ve got to talk for Chicago because a lot of people, when they talk about Chicago, they always mention like the bad s***, so I’ve got to mix it up. MJ wouldn’t be MJ if he played anywhere else but Chicago for his pro career,” Rose said. “He would’ve been a great player anywhere else, but in Chicago, he became the black cat; he became MJ in Chicago.
“Just off the strength of the culture that’s in Chicago, and there’s culture everywhere. The basketball culture is just strong. The expectations of, like, alright, what are you going to do?”
Rose believes that the extra pressure on Chicago’s’ basketball city and its fans pushed Jordan toward NBA greatness.
“I guarantee you he had people in his corner like you just went on vacation. They ain’t going to let you win three more,” Rose added. “I bet you can’t. That’s what n***** in Chi-Town were telling him. You already won one. I bet you can’t win another.”
Michael Jordan’s’ legacy with the Bulls
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Michael Jordan won six NBA championships throughout his career with the Chicago Bulls, completing two three-peats as part of the Bulls dynastic run in the 1990s. But for six seasons, after the Bulls drafted him with the third overall pick in the 1984 NBA Draft, Jordan couldn’t’ get past first Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics, then Isiah Thomas and the Detroit Pistons.
Thomas, the Hall of Fame point guard born and raised in Chicago, was a driving force for Jordan. The Bulls and the Pistons had one of the biggest rivalries in the Eastern Conference. For Rose, this motivated Jordan to surpass his rivals and led to MJ’s never-ending focus on becoming one of the greatest players the league has ever seen.
Derrick Rose and Michael Jordan are the only Bulls players to have won the league’s Most Valuable Player award.