Former NBA Most Valuable Player Derrick Rose has announced his retirement as a basketball player.
Rose confirmed the decision in a post on Instagram
and, according to Malika Andrews and Tim MacMahon of ESPN
, by taking out full-page ads in local newspapers of the six NBA cities he played in: Chicago, New York, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Detroit and Memphis.
“Knowing that I gave my all to the game, I feel confident in my decision,” Rose told ESPN. “Basketball was just the beginning for me. Now, it’s important that I give my all to my family — they deserve that.”
Rose added in a statement to Shams Charania of The Athletic : “The next chapter is about chasing my dreams and sharing my growth. I believe true success comes from becoming who you were created to be, and I want to show the world who I am beyond basketball.”
Rose, who will turn 36 next Friday, was selected first overall in the 2008 NBA draft by his hometown Bulls. He earned Rookie of the Year honors in 2009 and was named an All-Star in each of his next three seasons, winning the MVP award in 2011. Over the course of that season, his third in the NBA at age 22, he averaged 25.0 points, 7.7 assists, and 4.1 rebounds per game across 81 starts, leading the Bulls to a league-best 62-20 record.
The fact that Rose won the MVP award while still on his rookie scale contract resulted in an NBA rule being unofficially named after him. As we’ve outlined in a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry , the “Derrick Rose rule” allows players coming off their rookie deals to sign maximum-salary contracts worth up to 30% of the salary cap instead of the typical 25% if they’ve earned a major award such as MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, or All-NBA.
However, Rose’s career hit a snag following his first four seasons in Chicago, as he missed the entire 2012/13 season due to an ACL tear and only played in 10 games in ’13/14 as he continued to recover from that injury.
The 6’3″ guard ultimately made it back to the court on a more regular basis in ’14/15, but he only appeared in more than 51 games in a season twice in his final 10 NBA seasons as he continued to be affected by health issues that sapped him of the speed and explosiveness he displayed in his first few years.
Rose was still an effective role player when healthy, earning Sixth Man of the Year votes in 2019, 2020, and 2021 for the Timberwolves, Pistons, and Knicks, but his injury woes prevented him from fully delivering on the potential to be a longtime NBA star that he showed early in his career.
Rose will call it a career with averages of 17.4 PPG, 5.2 APG, and 3.2 RPG in 723 career regular season games (30.5 MPG). He also made 52 postseason appearances and put up 21.9 PPG, 6.3 APG, and 4.3 RPG in those outings. He made the Eastern Conference Finals with the Bulls during his MVP year in 2011, though he never played in the NBA Finals. In addition to suiting up for the Bulls, Timberwolves, Pistons, and Knicks, he spent time with the Cavaliers and Grizzlies.
Rose had been under contract with Memphis for the 2024/25 season, but requested his release and gave up his full $3.3MM guaranteed salary for the year as part of that agreement.
As K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Sports Network tweets , there are no immediate plans for Rose to sign a ceremonial one-day contract with the Bulls, but the organization will almost certainly honor its former star at some point this season.