Former NBA MVP and No 1 overall draft pick Derrick Rose has retired from basketball at the age of 35.
Rose was selected first in the 2008 Draft by his hometown Chicago Bulls and went on to win MVP in 2011, during a seven-season stint with the team.
He then moved on to New York, before bouncing around in the latter stages of his career, in part due to a series of injuries.
He announced the news on social media on Thursday morning, and also took out pages in the local newspapers of all the cities he played in: Chicago, New York, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Detroit and Memphis.
In an additional statement to The Athletic, he said: ‘The next chapter is about chasing my dreams and sharing my growth. I believe true success comes from becoming who you were created to be, and I want to show the world who I am beyond basketball.
Derrick Rose has announced his retirement from the NBA with a statement on his Instagram
Rose became the NBA’s youngest-ever MVP at the age of 22 after an incredible season in 2011
‘Whether good or bad, everyone has a “What if” story in their life. Even if I could, I wouldn’t change anything in mine, because it’s what helped me find real joy.’
Rose played the final season of his career in Memphis and had one year left on his contract with the Grizzlies, which they have now let him out of.
The 6-foot-3 point guard quickly established himself as a star in the NBA during his first season, winning Rookie of the Year, and he was an All-Star for the next three seasons.
In 2011, he became the youngest ever MVP, winning as a 22-year-old after averaging 25 points and 7.7 assists per game.
A year later, his career took a heartbreaking turn when he tore his ACL in the first round of the 2012 playoffs, leading to him missing the entirety of 2012-13, and playing just 10 games in 2013-14.
Rose most recently played for the Memphis Grizzlies but has opted out of his final year
In a lengthy statement, Rose paid tribute to his ‘first love’ after a 17-year basketball career
The now-former NBA star poses with his wife, whose initials he has tattooed on his neck
In 2016, he was traded to the Knicks, and he then moved on to the Cavaliers, Timberwolves, Pistons, back to the Knicks, and then the Grizzlies.
In a statement posted to his 1.8 million Instagram followers, Rose called basketball his ‘first love’, and went on to write: ‘You believed in me through the highs and lows, my constant when everything else seemed uncertain.
‘You showed me what love truly meant. You turned the court into my sanctuary, a home where I could express myself freely.’
At the end of the statement, he signs off: ‘Forever Yours, Derrick Rose’.
In the picture alongside the post, Rose can be seen holding a copy of today’s newspaper – which carries his announcement – and he sits in front of a chess board.
Rose falls to the court after being tripped while playing for the Bulls back in November 2014
Rose and his wife Alaina A. Anderson pose for a photo heading on vacation earlier this year
Rose also has the word ‘Khammurrabi’ tattooed and his mother’s name ‘Brenda’ on his hand
Aside from basketball, one of Rose’s biggest passions in life is chess, and he was previously credited as being ‘the biggest chess fanatic in the NBA’.
There have also been some controversies in his life, though. In 2016, Rose was involved in a federal civil lawsuit after being accused of gang-raping a former girlfriend with two friends.
The accuser – named as Jane Doe in court transcripts – claimed she was drugged against her consent on the day of the alleged rape in 2013 and alternated in and out of consciousness.
In October 2016, Rose was found not liable by an eight-member jury and an appeal was denied in 2018.
