A Rose Re-Bloomed: How Derrick Rose rediscovered himself in his second stint at MSG
Nearly out of the league in 2018, shortly after his first stint with the Knicks, it appeared Derrick Rose’s career might be coming to a close prematurely. But a reunion with Tom Thibodeau in Minnesota sparked a redemption arc that came full circle with Thibs in New York in 2021.
Where in the world was Derrick Rose?
The entire Knicks organization, the media that covers it, and the fans that support it, were all asking that very question on Monday night, Jan. 9, 2017, prior to a scheduled bout with the New Orleans Pelicans in Madison Square Garden. Rose had disappeared from his team with no notice provided, nary a hint as to his whereabouts, after attending shootaround in Westchester that very morning. The Knicks had lost seven of the previous eight games with their starting point guard — they would lose that night to the Pelicans without him. New York had “arrived at rock bottom of the Phil Jackson era,” wrote the never-bashful Frank Isola — and so had Derrick Rose.
As it turned out, Rose had escaped back to his hometown in Chicago to visit his loved ones in a time of internal crisis. He had a “serious discussion” with his entire family after he had “decided [he] was done playing.” They apparently convinced him otherwise, as he returned to the Knicks for their next game, punished with a fine but no suspension.
“D-Rose goes AWOL” was the climax of the epic drama that was his first, single-season stint in New York. It opened with a bang, a shockingly self-unaware proclamation that the New York Knicks — with him, washed-up Joakim Noah, Carmelo Anthony, and Kristaps Porzingis — were a “superteam” just like the Golden State Warriors (who, by the way, had just added someone named Kevin Durant to a championship roster in the same offseason). It was clouded throughout by rape allegations* — both a civil suit and a criminal investigation — and time spent in the wrong kind of court. It concluded with a whimper — after sitting out for four games with knee inflammation, he was diagnosed with a torn meniscus that ended his season. His last game came on March 27, in which he had 27, 6, and 4 on 12 of 17 shooting - nobody cared, and nobody wanted him back.
*While ultimately, the lawsuit was dismissed that year and the criminal probe was dropped in 2020, the ugliness of the allegations and some of Rose’s testimony in court are inescapably troubling. This author feels entirely unequipped to discuss these issues, and so I refer you to the following article, which intelligently discusses them.
Rose signed that offseason with LeBron’s Cleveland Cavaliers for just one year, $2 million, where his career continued to tailspin. He left the team in November to assess his future in the NBA (this time he provided notice), was traded to the Jazz in February, and was waived by Utah two days later.
Where in the world was Derrick Rose? Out of the league before age 30.
The crazy thing was, when healthy, Rose could clearly still play. In New York, he averaged 18, four, and four on 47% shooting. His effective field goal percentage was just a percentage point below where it had been when he won the MVP in 2012. Sure, his otherworldly athleticism had waned due to his knee injuries. He no longer looked like this, regularly rising above the rim with reckless abandon, pogo sticks for knees, changing direction with speed and torque so alarming you wondered how his shoes stayed on his feet. But despite all that, he actually took a larger percentage of his shots at the rim in New York than he had in any year prior, and converted them at about a career average rate, per Cleaning the Glass. Even in Cleveland, though his minutes dropped considerably, from 32 to 20 minutes a game, Rose consistently accessed the paint and finished at the rim, though he struggled everywhere beyond it. Rose was still a dynamic NBA player, and undoubtedly deserved a spot on a roster from a talent perspective. What needed to change was his attitude and approach.
Enter Tom Thibodeau, Jimmy Butler, and Taj Gibson. The crew that had accompanied him on his meteoric rise to stardom, and stuck with him when that meteor crashed back down to earth in Chicago, now resided in Minnesota. They graciously took their long-lost brother back in at his time of need, signing him shortly after Utah dismissed him. Derrick played just 12 minutes per game during the final 9 games of that regular season, before Thibs unleashed him against top-seeded Houston in the first round of the playoffs. Though the Wolves lost the series to James Harden’s Rockets in five games, Rose was impressive, averaging 14 points in just 23 minutes per game, on 50% shooting, including 70% from three. Things were looking up.
Rose re-signed with Minnesota for the 2018-2019 season, again for just $2 million. He still had plenty to prove, but the league had humbled him, and his perspective had shifted for the better. He told ESPN’s Nick Friedell in an interview that season that he had internally decided to stop playing “revenge basketball,” trying to prove the Bulls, Knicks, Cavs, and Jazz wrong for giving up on him. He talked about how his comfort level with Thibs, and the way Thibs understood his game, empowered him to be himself on the floor.
Importantly, he started taking and making more threes, converting on 39% from behind the arc, the highest mark of his career to that point. In a November 2019 interview with former Chicago Bull Will Perdue for NBC Sports Chicago, Rose admitted that he was too “stubborn” about the idea of shooting more threes earlier in his career. Finally, he had come to the necessary realization that as he aged, he would need to develop his outside shot to excel in the modern NBA.
Rose’s rebirth crescendoed with his epic 50-point game on Halloween 2018, followed by an extremely emotional post-game interview, in which, through tears, he talked about how hard he had worked to get back to being able to play his game, and how he’d taken a leadership role as the “vet” on the team, talking more to his teammates than he ever had at his prior NBA stops. Of course, due primarily to Jimmy Butler’s infamous holdout, the team struggled that year, and Thibs was fired midseason. Still, Rose played admirably in his 50 games (yes, health remained an issue, though unrelated to his knees), and was beginning to rebuild his reputation in the league.
With Coach Thibs gone, it was time to move on from Minnesota. Rose was rewarded for his comeback when the Pistons offered him a two-year deal for $15 million. He found a comfortable niche in Detroit, playing 25 minutes a game as the sixth man, bringing creative punch to the second unit while still often finishing games. He was particularly effective in January 2020, logging 14 straight 20-point games before a groin injury sidelined him for the next 10. In the Pistons’ last game before COVID suspended their season, Rose dropped 31 points on 15-24 shooting in a win over the Suns.
Where in the world was Derrick Rose? In Detroit, languishing on an irrelevant, rebuilding team, but with a re-established reputation as an extremely capable super-sub, waiting for his opportunity to reenter the limelight.
You know the rest. Thibs is hired by the Knicks for the 2020-2021 season. The Rose-to-New York rumors start immediately. Rose plays the first 15 games for an awful Pistons team before the inevitable move is finally made on Feb. 8, 2021. Rose reunites with Thibs and Taj Gibson, their third different team together. Rose injects desperately-needed shot creation and pace into the Knicks’ offense, propelling them from likely play-in team to the improbable No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Knicks are 10.6 points per possession better with Derrick Rose on the floor, an almost impossible number. When Rose plays, New York goes 24-11, the pace of a 56-win team in a normal season.
He unlocks a previously-shackled rookie in Obi Toppin by finally unleashing him in transition:
He gets to the rim at a career-low rate by far, yet despite that, has the most efficient season of his career (yes, including that year he won a thing called the Most Valuable Player award), by shattering his career-best mark from three (he shot 42%), and converting an absurd percentage of his wide array of floaters.
Rose has developed what can only be called a “floater package.” He gets his one-hander off in a variety of ways, rendering him basically indefensible in the short midrange. He can shoot it off his right foot, his left foot, or both feet. He can shoot it with either hand. He can shoot it from as far out as the free throw line. He can shoot it leaning either way. He can shoot it off of a turnaround, or fading away.
Follow the video along with me: The Shot-Put, The Jump-Stopper, The Wrong-Footer, The Free-Thrower, The Magic Hook, The Conservative (lean right), The Liberal (lean left), The Southpaw, The Fade, The Turnaround. A truly dazzling arsenal of angles and trajectories.
It was therefore no surprise when Rose went to his trusted floater (a Wrong-Footer, no less) in the closing seconds of Game 1 of the first round against the Atlanta Hawks, a shot which would have gone down in Knicks lore if not for the talented balding guy on the other side... alas. Watch that play — nobody wanted to take the big shot until the ball finally found Derrick Rose’s hands. The point guard once notoriously absent, now absolutely present in the most pressurized moment.
D-Rose wound up being New York’s best player in the postseason, and was eventually given the starting job over the finally-benched Elfrid Payton. That burden proved a bit much for the aging star, and he visibly wore down as the series wore on. Nonetheless, he was finally back in the limelight, and had proven himself unquestionably worthy of it. The comeback was complete.
There seemed to be a consensus expectation that Rose, a free agent, would return to New York for the 2021-2022 season. His comfort with Thibs and Taj, the way he was embraced in the Garden in his second go-around — it just felt inevitable. And so it came to pass. Rose accepted a three-year deal for $43 million — with the third year as a team option — by far his most lucrative contract since his rookie extension, signed with the Bulls and finished with the Knicks. With the late addition of Kemba Walker, D-Rose will be reinserted into that super-substitute role, running the second unit, mentoring the young’ns, right where he belongs.
Where in the world is Derrick Rose?
Well, he here.
