The night was meant to honor Derrick Rose.
But it was really for the fans.
They packed in early to watch him warm up once more, this time with his son PJ on the United Center court. Players from both the Chicago Bulls and the New York Knicks wore ‘1.4.25’ patches represented the date, as well as Rose’s jersey numbers. The atrium showcased an exhibit with memorabilia from an unforgettable career.
Rose’s night will be sometime during the 2025-26 season, when the Bulls finally raise number 1 into the rafters. On Saturday morning, team President Michael Reinsdorf delivered the news to Rose, who said he’s still in a “daze” after finding out.
“Not yet,” Rose said when asked whether he has fully processed what it will mean to have his jersey hanging in the rafters. “But tonight, it’s not about that. It’s about me giving everybody that’s in this room, everybody that was a part of the story, the journey, the good, the bad, the ugly – celebrating everyone.”
During the halftime ceremony, those fans couldn’t wait to break out into MVP chants. Beginning with remarks from former play-by-play broadcaster Neil Funk and color commentator Stacey King, Rose was showered with praise and appreciation.
Joakim Noah also delivered a heartfelt message: “You’re not only the MVP, Pooh. You’re the people’s champ.”
“Hope is a powerful emotion,” Noah said. “You gave people that every single day. You gave your teammates hope because we knew we had the best player on the court every single night. You gave these fans hope because they knew they were watching the most exciting player every single night. You give your city hope.”
Rose then took the stage to deliver a final message, thanking the fans that raised him.
“Thank you, Chicago, for forcing me to be great,” he said.
The group of former teammates in attendance added to the moment. Highlight mixes and messages from Taj Gibson and Luol Deng on the jumbotron aroused the fans during timeout breaks. Holding the ceremony on the night Tom Thibodeau’s Knicks were in town was the obvious choice to make the night special.
“It is so well deserved, and I think, for what [Rose] means to the city, the Bulls, the entire NBA,” Thibodeau said during his pre-game availability. “I had the opportunity to coach against him. So, I know how difficult that is, and then I had the good fortune to coach him. You see in the eyes of the opponent, when they had to guard him. You could see the fear and the respect, and then his ability to play his best when his best was needed. In the big games, playoff games, and meaningful games, he went to a different level, and he did it against the best and was very authentic. He did it his own way – unrelenting, and never gave in. I always said, ‘the true measure of a man is how he handles adversity.’ And nobody did it better. He never stayed down. He always found a way to rise above and look.
I’m thrilled about his career, and I think he’s in the Hall of Fame. There’s no question in my mind he’s a Hall of Fame player.”
Bulls fans fell in love with Rose, not only because of his on-court greatness, but because of his demeanor — the quiet confidence with which he carried himself. He was a symbol of hope that Bulls fans could have to themselves, because he was one of their own.
“People don’t realize how difficult it is to play in your hometown,” Thibodeau said. “He did so many things behind the scenes that nobody knew about. That’s just not who Derrick is. He contributed a lot to the community — not just here, everywhere he’s been — and that says a lot about him as a human being.”
Rose represents one of the great ‘what if’ stories in recent basketball history. His ascent was as explosive as he was — he became the best player in the league just three years into his career. Though injuries that robbed him, and the fans, of his prime, he stopped taking part in the ‘what ifs’ long ago.
“I mean, who knows. That’s something I really don’t think about,” Rose said. “The last time I had those conversations was years, years ago. And like, who knows?”
Instead, he thinks more about what actually happened, and how it changed the course of his life.
“But at the same time, with me being obsessed, I wouldn’t have found out who I was as a person,” Rose said. “I was obsessed with the game. Not love. I was obsessed. So if I would’ve won one championship, I would’ve wanted four. And that would have pulled me away, further and further away from finding self-knowledge, self revelation, identity.”
Rose now seems totally at peace with who he is at this point in his life and what he accomplished, something his fans should cherish as he enjoys retirement.
“Everybody’s story is different,” he said. “For some reason, mine ended up being this way. So coming from Chicago, we roll with the punches.”
