Darrius Barron
2019-2020 Managing Editor
In a city where the blistering cold of winter breaks through the concrete, and the showers of April nourish the dirt that lies between those cracks, plants that grow from the concrete often wither and die; but the Rose did not. The Rose withered, but always found its way back to bloom.
Derrick Rose, a son of Chicago, and arguably the most favored professional basketball player from the city has achieved great accolades early in his career.
Despite being plagued by critical injuries, and being subjected to criticism from almost every angle of his career, Rose faced the adversity and refused to stop living his dream.
On April 11, 2019, a documentary that would showcase Rose’s life beyond the court aired on WatchStadium.com, a website geared to sports. “Pooh, the Derrick Rose Story” was named after Rose himself; Pooh being his nickname.
“Pooh” told Rose’s story from a point of view that fans did not already have.
Beginning with a potential career ending injury in a playoff game against the Philadelphia 76ers in 2012; Rose’s fanbase and the Chicago Bulls fanbase as a whole would experience lots of controversy in the following years.
The documentary which featured several key people in Rose’s life shed light on how everything affected them, and how they noticed a change in everything from the Chicago Bulls organization, his fanbase, and most importantly, Rose himself.
The Chicago Bulls were a league favorite at the time to derail the eastern conference juggernauts, the Miami Heat. Former Bulls All-Star Center, Joakim Noah opens up about how Rose’s injury not only affected the team, but how he had selfish feelings about the situation.
“I look back at that time and I don’t like it because I feel like I wanted him to come back, selfishly. He was also my brother and I wanted him to be right; so I was torn a little bit,” said Noah.
Beyond the injuries, one of the hypersensitive moments of the documentary was the moment Rose was told that the Bulls traded him to the New York Knicks during the 2016 offseason. A camera crew who Rose was working with to shoot the documentary caught Rose’s raw emotion as he received the news from his agent, BJ Armstrong.
Before Rose got the bad news about the trade, he was speaking about his future with the Chicago Bulls. Rose was hopeful to retire a Bull, and those happy emotions quickly turned into tears after he got call.
“Pooh” also covered the rape allegation that troubled Rose and his entourage at the start of his time with the Knicks.
During the 2016-17 preseason, Rose was accused of raping his ex-girlfriend. At the time, fans had little information about the case.
According to the documentary, the ex-girlfriend in question was referred to as Jane Doe. She filed a civil suit against Rose and two of his friends in which she would receive $21.5M if she won the case.
Rose and his two friends would later be cleared of the charges.
After the Knicks controversy, and being traded twice more to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and then to the Utah Jazz in one season; Rose would find a new home in with former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The documentary also caught the upside to Rose’s late NBA career. Scoring 50 points against the Utah Jazz was milestone for Rose that sent shockwaves through the entire NBA world.
“Pooh” covered Rose’s career from the start, up until halfway through his second season with the Timberwolves. The number of well-known names like Chance the Rapper, Joakim Noah, John Calipari, and many more who came together to help tell the story is a testament to how many different directions the documentary branches out to.
Rose fans like Chance the Rapper believes that the Chicago Bulls should retire his jersey. Sadly, not all of his fans feel the same.
Syderrick Maiten, a speech communications major from Greenville, Miss., said: “D. Rose is my favorite player and h accomplished a few things before his major injuries. Do not get me wrong, but retiring his jersey now will be a slap in the face to the ones who have their jerseys already retired due to the work they have put in…”
“Pooh the Derrick Rose Story” can be viewed on WatchStadium.com/Pooh/.
More NBA discussion can be heard on the “At the Whistle” podcast on the “JSUBlueWhiteFlash” YouTube channel.
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