his 2016 civil assault case<\/a> in which he was found not liable. \u201cI told myself I was going to make a seven-year vow to do certain things and live on my rudiments. It took me a while to figure out why I was doing it, but I\u2019m on Year 11, 12. I manifested this.<\/p>\n\u201cSo, I guess I\u2019m doing something right. For one, finding my identity. Two, self-knowledge. Three, self-revelation. With those three, I was able to ask questions and figure out things that can not only help me, but the knowledge that can help my family and my friends around me.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s spent far more time now learning about himself than he did as a franchise-altering superstar, no matter how well his ardent supporters freeze that moment in time. Famously taciturn for much of his early career, he almost reclines into introspection now. Why and when his tears form. The cold truths he appreciates about his short-lived superstardom.<\/p>\n
Rose appreciates the bonds born from smoke sessions in road hotel rooms with Joakim Noah, towels under the door like sneaky teenagers, something they\u2019ve recounted on podcasts in retirement. He appreciates the deterioration of his knees for the reflection it forced upon him. He cries every day, about \u201ceverything.\u201d<\/p>\n
He does not think about what heights No. 1 could\u2019ve reached. At this stage, basketball to him is the vehicle toward revelation, not old glory. Rose wants to spend every moment possible chasing new dreams, ones that can\u2019t swallow him whole.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce I did figure out I wanted to retire, I felt like I was liberated,\u201d Rose said. \u201cI feel like I could show who I really was as a person. \u2026 Right when I got done, I wanted to show that I was just creative.\u201d<\/p>\n
Growing up, Rose introduced himself exclusively as Pooh. He hated the name \u201cDerrick.\u201d In retirement, he\u2019s sought meaning in his name. He found symbolism in Rose, tying his story and search for creative outlets to the blossoming of his namesake.<\/p>\n
The name and idea came easily. But Rose\u2019s Flower Shop, for him, represents legacy. Leading with his family\u2019s name when he attempts to be taken seriously by a city who\u2019s only known him as a player.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was (about) growth, being authentic and legacy,\u201d Rose said. \u201cThe growth part is what you\u2019re saying right now, us being able to curate something and really employ people. We giving back. Especially with me being here and understanding the economy, it\u2019s hard times.\u201d<\/p>\n
The same applies to his insertion in freestyle chess; he refers to the sacrifices of his loved ones and his own risks in retirement \u201cgambit moves.\u201dIt\u2019ll also be true of whatever he decides to pursue in tech or in construction, both of which his wandering eye considers.<\/p>\n
In poverty, Rose scavenged for ways to provide as a kid. He lost his innocence early, shooting dice as a kid in Murray Park. He pumped gas. He sold shoes that sneaker companies secretly slipped him as a prized grassroots player at a fraction of retail. He beat older players in the neighborhood one-on-one for money.<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t scraping the pot. This is the rewriting of a man who craves an arc more fulfilling than reliving his 15-year-old accomplishments. This is his hope to explore creativity where it once seemed devoid, to find meaning in his new walk, even while he\u2019s constantly reminded of what his younger self means to others.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe never thought that we would be florists,\u201d Rose said, \u201cbut at the same time, we\u2019re implementing incentives into the workshops and everything where you can go tell a kid, \u2018Hey, go knock on that door and ask that woman: Do she want roses?\u2019 If she do, you get $25 to $50 a house, and that\u2019s a clean way of hustling.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rose fantasizes about building a home library for his children reminiscent of Hogwarts. A collection so large that it\u2019s organized in columns, so many books he couldn\u2019t fathom reading them all. He asks his oldest son, PJ, to fetch what he\u2019s reading. He returns with Dick Gregory and J.A. Rogers.<\/p>\n
Reminiscing, marinating in his past success, would leave less room for this. He calls knowledge privilege, a sentiment tattooed on him. He claims certain works \u2014 he digs into Rogers\u2019 \u201cWorld\u2019s Great Men of Color, Volume II\u201d \u2014 call to him. He perks up at the way he\u2019s reclaimed his time.<\/p>\n
\u201cBro, who else is walking around with a thesaurus?\u201d Rose said. \u201cLike, seriously. I know I don\u2019t need it because I think I know how to articulate myself, but to just gain knowledge, more knowledge. \u2026 I wasn\u2019t trained to really be a student. So, now that I\u2019m in this seat, I have to play catch up to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
But it always comes back to hoops. How can you uproot that rose? How can you extract the image of the fearless South Side guard who showed kids in the city they could soar and hit game winners, from the 37-year-old attempting to step outside the shadow of his career?<\/p>\n
Are they even meant to live as separate entities?<\/p>\n
\u201cWho knows? \u2029All I know is I\u2019m here to help,\u201d Rose said. \u201cAnd you will see that within the action. \u2029So, D-Rose or whoever you call me or whoever this next person is or what this next phase of my life is \u2014 I\u2019m willing to help.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/USATSI_25116093-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Derrick Rose has been watching with his son, PJ, develop into a basketball player. Derrick said it\u2019s a love he refuses to force on his son. (David Banks \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n
PJ Rose entered the world roughly six months after his father tore his ACL, and 17 months after he was named MVP.<\/p>\n
Derrick sat with him as a younger child, granting him the autonomy to choose a sport. He never knew his own, but he\u2019s aware of the obsessive fathers in sport who live vicariously through sons, those who grit their teeth and grind their shortcomings into their children.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I\u2019m not gonna be is Joe Jackson,\u201d he said, referring to the demanding patriarch of the Jackson 5.<\/p>\n
Derrick takes the steps to try to put his basketball past behind him. But he did not pass down the chess gene. It\u2019s all come full circle, with his son embarking innocently on his own hoop journey, inevitably compared to his father.<\/p>\n
PJ is a 13-year-old power forward. When Derrick watches the NBA, it\u2019s because his son is. Derrick catches quarters, PJ watches games.<\/p>\n
He surmises his son will sprout to 6-foot-4, maybe 6-5. Derrick describes watching him as a beautiful experience. It\u2019s still too early to tell if he inherited a fraction of that earth-shattering athleticism or tunnel vision, or if he\u2019s anything like his father.<\/p>\n
And, perhaps for the better, he\u2019s still too young to grasp the emotions competition brought his dad. The compulsion Derrick felt to become the man. The agony of grappling with the first injury. The endurance to search for his soul on the other side of the second. The acceptance to settle on longevity.<\/p>\n
Once PJ made his choice, Derrick knew he needed to raise him in Chicago. They live miles away and many feet above Murray Park, their home overlooking the city, but the kids from Morgan Park to Whitney Young, from Out West and Over East, will bring PJ his education. The way these playgrounds inflated Derrick\u2019s chest.<\/p>\n
Derrick Rose\u2019s son chose basketball all on his own.<\/p>\n
He chose to walk with the game Derrick has long made peace with, which dictated so many of the decisions in his life. Once his son decided to take it seriously, Derrick knew his obligation to nervously provide the guidelines. PJ inevitably reeled him back in.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like, do you know what you signing yourself up for?\u201d Rose said. \u201cThe good, the bad, the ugly. \u2026 He going down the path of the ugly and the injuries. It gotta be injuries. Am I gonna be able to deal with that? \u2029That\u2019s what I gotta prep myself for, \u2019cause he\u2019s really taking the steps forward to be able to become a pro.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd with him becoming a pro comes along the ugly. And all the times that I injured myself, I used to always tell my mom, \u2018I\u2019m good, I\u2019m good.\u2019 Bro, they get sick, I\u2019m up in here putting essential oils on them, all type of s\u2014. So for him to say he loves this s\u2014 \u2014 you gotta get bruised up. S\u2014 happens, and I gotta kinda prep myself for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among his lessons, he places a wedge between obsession and love. For Derrick, obsession began as the separator between him and his peers before giving way to isolation. Love for the game proved healthy, illuminating even, though it took longer to find. Few learned like Derrick did in the twilight years of his career, when the MVP chants ceased, how difficult it becomes to sift out your evolving identity after occupying such lofty air.<\/p>\n
Obsession can be warped, the accompanying spirit liable to be tarnished. But love is the baseline. It\u2019s what vaulted Rose toward acceptance when his vision shrank and he opted to understand what the injuries, the time, all were telling him about himself.<\/p>\n
Rose swallows the fact he wasn\u2019t geared for the circus attached to stardom. Could his son stomach what occurs when outside entities challenge that obsession, that love? To find himself if the dream ever fades?<\/p>\n
Derrick knows the way.<\/p>\n
\u201cI won\u2019t be the last hooper to be quiet,\u201d Rose said. \u201cLike, you know how Kawhi (Leonard) is. I won\u2019t be the last one. But at the same time, you can navigate through that by being yourself. That\u2019s the example I want to be. You don\u2019t gotta fit in like that. You could do your own thing and still love the game, love your peers and everything. I was never a fit for it. My personality was never fit for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chicago embraced him anyway, perhaps now as much as ever. Rose, for his rise and fall, his improbable landing with his hometown Bulls and his abnormal ascension, was a comet. The city will forever try to recapture that.<\/p>\n
That they clutch that moment in time tighter than he does was almost inevitable.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s in sync,\u201d Rose said. \u201cIt has to be, because everybody gon\u2019 always love the way that I played. So, even though I want to push or separate myself from that, I\u2019m always gonna be a part of the NBA, a part of the Bulls (and) the fabric of it because I felt like I gave my all. Looking at MJ and all that, I have no regrets, just like he had no regrets when he won six, I feel the exact same way.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have no regrets, bro. I feel like I maxed out.\u201d<\/p>\n
He survived as Pooh. He was lionized, then crucified, then immortalized as D-Rose, a forever MVP to those who lived through the proud blur that were his Bulls teams.<\/p>\n
He\u2019ll live out his days watering the seeds of Derrick.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHICAGO \u2014\u00a0Inside the Vault Gallerie, a garage space-turned-pop-up in Chicago\u2019s Pilsen neighborhood, Derrick Rose fastens himself into a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":110704,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9128,1266,1267,19,9135,49694,9130,21,9,11,1104,10,23],"class_list":["post-110703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-chicago-bulls","tag-cleveland-cavaliers","tag-detroit-pistons","tag-memorabilia-collectibles","tag-memphis-grizzlies","tag-memphis-tigers","tag-minnesota-timberwolves","tag-nba","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-new-york-news","tag-sports-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110703\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2191882653-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-113686364-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n