Just When I Didn't Think I Could Love Derrick Rose More Than I Already Did, He Went And Wrote Something Like This

Imagine having your dream job or working for a company for 10 plus yrs... Blood, sweat and tears and somebody from another company approach you and say ...Hey... you look like your vintage self today LMAO. You don't know them at all and they think they know you becuz they watched you perform a lil bit from a far. The shit would throw you off right??? You had your ups and downs in the company right! You’re human! But WHAT if the numbers say you were more efficient that year... WHAT if you’re a totally different player! It's nothing VINTAGE about my game but my floaters. I don't dunk or jump high anymore. I’m not killing u with speed nor am I a one man fastbreak anymore. I don't even shoot my reverse layups lol. I'm a totally different player. I love chess so I would put it this way... I lost my Queen early in the game but I fought my fuckin way back to get one of my pawns down the board to get her back. If you know chess... that's a very hard process to achieve and if you really know how to play you know even the master games are won with few pieces on the board and it's about strategy, heart and skill. It's cool to say I still hoop a lil bit...plus I been fighting through shit my whole life. I'm smiling through it becuz I been through the hardest shit. That was growing up piss poor in Chi and nobody didn't understand my pain and dreams but me. Vintage or not... I’m extremely Blessed and Skilled.

This post, as the kids say, "is everything."

It had it all- 

relatable work metaphor (check)

emotion (check)

cuss words (check)

chess metaphor (check)

underdog victory (check)

I've been a huge Derrick Rose fan ever since David Stern fixed the lottery and gift wrapped him to the Bulls in 2008 (extending John Paxson and Gar Forman's lives by ten years in the process).

The kid turned the Bulls into an instant contender and appointment television every night. 

Like he said in his caption, he was a one-man fast break. He could jump out of the gym. Had a motor like nobody else and flew up and down the court for 45-47 minutes a night under that tyrant Tom Thibadeau. 

In 2009 he almost willed the undermanned, under sized Bulls to upsetting the Celtics in one of the most incredible 7-game playoff series ever. Absolute fucking wild series each and every game, featuring 8 overtimes. 

In 2011 he ran away with the league MVP award. The youngest player to ever win it. He was one of the only marquee players in the league not playing alongside another superstar (or two) and yet the Bulls were the real deal. Because of Rose.

Then his body cheated him. Poor guy played so violently and explosive that his knees couldn't take it anymore.

(sidebar - A Nike exec friend of mine told me back then that as bad as they'd wanted to sign him, their "experts" told them that because of the way Rose played, he wouldn't be around for long so they let Adidas have him.)

Couple that with the fact that Tom Thibadeau threw around substitutions like manhole covers and the wear and tear was just too much for Rose. The injuries started to pile up. The frustrations grew into rushing back too soon from injury and just making it worse. The off the court distractions and shit started to mount and before you knew it, things were over as quick as they started. 

The media piled on and he was shipped to the Knicks in June of 2016 for Robin Lopez and scraps. From there it was stints with the Cavs, T Wolves, and Pistons, before finding himself back in New York, with Tom Thibadeau. He'd shown flashes of greatness again in Minnesota a couple years ago but his body just never seemed able to hold up. So when you'd get your hopes up that maybe he "was back" they'd be met with an injury right around the corner.

This year was different though.

He seemed content coming off the bench in New York, and was an instant spark plug. As he expounded on in his caption, instead of the run and gun fast-paced player he was in his early 20s, he's now adapted his game to kill guys making mistakes, or catching them flat-footed. 

The razzle-dazzle is still there, its just in slower motion. 

And that floater...

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It really is great to see. Genuinely happy for him and for Knicks fans.  If you're not happy for the guy you have a giant dump in your pants.

(This was all even better considering the night Rose just had channeling his vintage self and clocking a game-high of 39 minutes, scoring a team-high of 26 points.)