After being honored in Chicago this week, former Bulls star Derrick Rose opened up on whether he’d be open to his statue in the city. Hilariously, Rose declined the offer but he made sure to add that a jersey retirement would not go underappreciated.
“With the way people are creating the statues, no I do not want no statue,” said Rose jokingly. “Jerry [Reinsdorf], no statues man… But my jersey being retired, I would love that.”
After announcing his retirement from the NBA, fans across the country have been celebrating and remembering his extraordinary career. While he played for numerous teams over his career, Rose will mostly be remembered for his run with the Chicago Bulls from 2008-2016, which included three All-Star appearances and an MVP in 2011.
When Rose imagined his own Bulls statue, flashbacks of some of the most recent recipients came to the forefront of his mind. Like earlier this season, when Dwyane Wade went viral for his statue unveiling with the Miami Heat. It turned out to be quite controversial.
Wade was proud of the art and pointed out how rare it was for a player to get a statue. But for most other people, Wade’s statue was just a hideous piece of art that failed to live up to NBA standards.
There’s also the tragedy with Kobe Bryant’s statue in Los Angeles. It was meant as a gesture to honor the Lakers legend but fans were taken aback when they discovered a serious lack of quality control for the piece. Besides a loose likeness to Bryant, fans torched the statue for several misspelled words and it had to be redone to please the fans.
With these examples being the most recent for player statues, it’s no wonder why Derrick Rose would rather skip the tradition but he may not have a choice in the matter. While much of his 7 years with the Bulls was spent in recovery, he’s considered a legend in the city on par with some of the greatest players in franchise history.
During his Bulls tenure, Rose averaged 19.7 points, 6.2 assists, and 3.8 rebounds per game on 44.8% shooting. In the wake of the Michael Jordan era, Rose led the Bulls back to prominence in the East and brought a level of buzz and excitement to the city that hadn’t been seen in years.
To this day, Rose is one of the most beloved and cherished Bulls players and his legacy is revered by nearly everyone in the city. Even without a championship or even a Finals run, Rose achieved a level of fame and popularity with the Bulls that has not been replicated since.
If not for his injuries, some believe that Rose was on a “Michael Jordan trajectory” and that he could have brought multiple titles to the city. That’s not how it panned out for Derrick but he still did enough to earn the love and respect of the fans.
Maybe one day, the Bulls will grant him his wish and they’ll retire his signature No. 1 jersey permanently. But if they ever do decide to build a Derrick Rose statue, it better be up to par or it might just get flamed like some of the others we’ve seen recently.
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