Mitchell Hartnell

ENC 1001
Professor Thacker
11/20/14

Derrick Roses Journey

The Chicago Bulls picked him number 1 overall. ESPN said, he was the best
pure point guard in the draft. During Roses first season, he averaged 16.8 points
per game along with 6.3 assists per game. He had a very good rookie year, although
he had a lot to learn still and he was on the rise. The next year after that, he worked
hard and improved in almost every category. It wasnt until the next year that he
would make history. Derrick Rose had a breakout season averaging 25 points a
game along with 7.7 assists, and 4.1 rebounds. His fantastic season earned him the
title of MVP. He became the youngest player in the NBA to be named league MVP at
the age of 22. During that year he also earned ALL-NBA First Team honors. Rose led
the team with a scoring high of 54 times during the year along with an assist high of
70 times. He became the fifth player in NBA history to post 2000 points, 600 assists,
and 300 rebounds in a single season along with Oscar Robertson, John Havlicek,
Michael Jordan, and Lebron James. He was Chicagos first All-Star starter since
Michael Jordan as well. Derrick Rose was on track for an amazing career looking at
what he had accomplished already at such an early age. After his breakout year he
signed a deal with Adidas giving him 185 million dollars over a span of 13 years.

After that deal he became one of the highest paid athletes in the world. Derrick
Roses agent, B. J. Armstrong, also acquired endorsement deals with Powerade,
Skullcandy, and Wilson for Derrick.
The next season was a little less productive from his MVP year. His season
was full of many injuries throughout the whole year. He ended up not playing in 26
games. The 26 missed games resulted from injuries such as toe springs to lower
back injuries to groin and ankle injuries. It all came to an end though, when he tore
his ACL in the first game of the 2012 playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers. He
racked up a total of 23 points, 9 rebounds, 1 block, and 1 steal. Many admirers and
fans were traumatized, as Rose was too. Many were very controversial when and if
he would return. The next season (2012-2013) was missed because of his knee
injury.
During his missed season he went through lot of trials and hardships. In an
interview with USA Today sports, Rose explained everything that he had to learn
differently and how that changed him as a person overall. Rose now had to get help
with things he had always done himself before. Rose had to rely on his family a lot
more now. He said, "I'm a loner. I'm used to doing everything myself. For someone
to help me out in a physical way, it was different. Helping me up out of the bed. That
was something I could easily do. But everything changed then, from an interview
with USA Sports today. He also had to learn to be really patient in which he was very
limited at first.
Rose wasnt used to doing things slow. He always did things quick, like
college. He went to play at Memphis under coach John Capilari. He led the tigers to a

phenomenal year. He excelled right off the bat. He led the tigers to 38 wins (the most
in NCAA history), which led Memphis to the national championship game. Rose and
his team werent able to pull off the win as they fell to the Kansas Jayhawks in
overtime. Rose completed the game with 18 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds. After
his successful first season with the Tigers, he decided to enter the NBA draft.
Rose reported that he was not going to come back until he could play at
110%. It takes him now 30-40 minutes to stretch. He also says his legs and knees are
now stronger than ever. He also said he gained 10-11 pounds of muscle from his
rehabilitation. Rose took on different techniques during his training that he had
never done before as well, such as watching tape. Rose said he barely watched tape
before his injury. He did everything purely out of instinct. He said that it has
changed his game in the sense that he knows a lot more about the other teams
gameplay, strategies, and coaching. It gives him another weapon on the court. The
fact that Rose is watching tape opposed to playing out of pure instinct like he has
sounds like he knows he cant play how he used to with all the sharp cuts he made
and hard stops he executed before. To me it sounds like his legs arent as strong as
he says they are and he is still injury prone, although I hope that isnt the case. Rose
didnt know when he was going to return though. The end of the season he was
cleared to come back and play, but he felt that he was mentally unready, which
brought huge ruckus to Chicago and Rose fans as they wanted him back and in
action. A big controversy was brought out of this because many players who have
torn their ACL have recovered faster or around the same time he was cleared. Some
thought it was smart as others had other opinions. The next year he appeared in 10

games before his right knee suffered a re-injury, ending his season on November 22,
2013. At this point people thought his career was done and hope began to fade all
around. No one knew or thought Rose would be able to bounce back from this reinjury. Little did anyone know how he felt or how driven he was to get back on the
court.
Roses childhood made him the man he is today, which is very driven to be
the best he can be. Derrick was born on October 4, 1988 in Chicago, Illinois. He grew
up in the slums with the care of his mother Brenda. His mother was very protective
and made sure she gave her children and best childhood she could. Rose was the
youngest of three brothers; Allan, Reggie, and Wayne. All three brothers were very
protective of Rose and acted as the men of the house since they grew up without a
father. They helped Rose develop and master his basketball skills, knowing he had
great potential. This was a chance for Rose to make it out of the slums and have a
good life. He had all the tools and soon the devotion. Rose enrolled at Chicagos
Simeon Academy after he finished middle school in 2003. He quickly excelled there,
gaining the reputation of being one of the best high school players in the nation. He
soon became a dominant force in high school, which resulted in many triumphs and
wins. When senior year came in 2007, Derrick was ranked the nations best high
school point guard. He averaged 25.2 points per game and helped guide his school to
a record of 33-2. That year , the Chicago Tribune named him their Illinois Mr.
Basketball Player. Rose want ready to just give up his career after all his hard work.
He trained really hard after his injury and kept on supporting the team. He
never lost sight of what he had in the beginning. He didnt want all his work after the

first injury to go to waste as he came so far from before and had something to prove.
He went on a strict diet and worked out 6 days a week. He gained his abilities and
confidence back in a short time. He was showing great progress that led him to play
for the 2014 USA Mens National team. Derrick Rose used this opportunity to ease
back into competitive basketball. Rose played smart and used this time to try and
polish his skills before his NBA season started. Rose played well and surprised many
to see how he played on the court. After the playing with the USA team, people were
able to find some hope to believe that Derrick Rose was finally back and hopefully
injury free.
He cant really afford another decent injury this season or likely ever,
especially for Adidas sake. Adidas already had to twist Roses injury into a positive
with marketing, featuring and focusing on his return. Derrick Rose will most likely
be done with his basketball career or at least never play like he has before. Some
think his play on the USA mens national team is what he is only going to be capable
of if he is not going to reinjure himself. During the preseason Rose played pretty
well, polishing up any last tweaks he needed to. The Bulls won their first game this
season with Rose only putting up a total of 13 points, 5 assists, and 2 steals. His
second game he put up 20 points and 4 assists before rolling his ankle. As of now, he
says it is not serious at all. He said he missed the Saturday game just for an extra day
of rest but was able to play if he was needed. Many fans hope that is exactly what it
is and nothing more as this may be a big season for the Bulls as they could be
contenders for the NBA Championship if Rose stays healthy.

Rose has missed a total of six games out of the 11 games the Bulls have
played so far due to right and left ankle injuries, as well as a hamstring injury. Many
say he is being selfish and thinking about himself rather than the team as a whole.
Rose says he thinks about the long run and his whole career opposed to this season.
Rose also said he feels like he can sit out if he needs too, because he trusts his team.
He also said he now knows that he can make an impact even if he isnt at a full
100%. He said he plays his hardest during the 1st, 3rd, and 4th quarters, and his team
is getting used to that. Rose can afford to be smart, especially now, when the Bulls
roster has a lot of depth to it. Their team is very well rounded this year. Being smart
with Roses physical being is smart right now as his healthiness come June will be
critical and could be a true deciding factor of whether or not the Bulls pull of a title.
As of now people are speculating about Roses recent and immediate injuries
that have already occurred in the first few games of the season. Some people dont
think he will be able to stay healthy this season due to all of his previous records,
but I think he has overcome the serious injuries and is ready to prove to everyone
that he has what it takes to stay healthy and play smart and hard. Some think he is
just trying to float on by, and perform sub par, but I think that is not true. Derrick
Rose knows what has done in the past and what he can do now. He trained very
hard and has came a long way. He could have stopped after he reinjured his first
injury, but he didnt want to give up all that he had worked for and all that he had
accomplished. I think he is ready to play smart and hard in order to make an
affective long run attempt to stay healthy enough to play throughout the season

while making a big presence. This season will be the true test to see if he is done or
has created a new beginning for himself.

Process Memo
I chose to write an article for Sports Illustrated. This magazine
appealed to me the most out of any other one because, I love sports and this
magazine covers many stories I like and gives them a user engagement feel as a lot
of times the stories are left open ended for an almost post discussion with yourself
that compels you to want more. The audience directed for Sports Illustrated is a
friendly fan base that loves to hear and think about all the possibilities that stories
and news unlock. This audience typically is directed toward male fans that like to
contemplate and opinionate what they think and compare with the professionals
and announcers. They like how Sports Illustrateds view isnt forced onto you like
ESPNs is. It is a friendly sports magazine that keeps you engaged and interested. I
cited my main sources by adding where I got them from in the sentence that I used
their information. I did this because Sports Illustrated is such a well-known and
credible magazine that they dont need to cite sources with a works cited page or
such. They also mainly add in citations for certain statistics or facts that are
important or could be uneasy without a source. Most of my information came from
the major sports companies like ESPN and CBS Sports. I chose to write my article on
Derrick Rose because he is my favorite basketball player and there was a new story
to be written about him. He is the perfect story for Sports Illustrated because; his
journey is very controversial as if he will have a final career ending injury this year

as he is finally back. He has already overcome two huge injuries while suffering
many smaller ones throughout his career. I wanted my article to be about where
Derrick Rose has gotten and whether or not he can maintain healthy and persevere
through his injuries. After I completed my first draft, I set up my article as an almost
biography of Derrick Rose from when he was a small child. I laid out his life story
while mainly focusing on his career high and injuries. To have the reader come to an
interest in whether he will be able to play out his full career and to what skill level.
After my first draft was looked over by some peers, they werent getting the focus
that I intended them to. I had to reconstruct my article and shift many things around
like the beginning of his life. I had to pull out the beginning of his childhood and
funnel it back into different parts, creating flashback moments in various parts. This
enabled me to start off the essay stressing on his rise to MVP to his injuries while
still being able to put in important information his past. I didnt want to just cut out
the beginning of his life and childhood because everything that he has accomplished
so far is because of that. His reactions and future decisions could be factors of that
too. This made me realize how the focus of writing can be changed or manipulated
very easily with the switching and movement of lines and phrases within a paper or
article. Another comment about my article was that I should maybe put in more
opinions or ideas to what I think. I took that advise because I realized that Sports
Illustrated is full of opinions and comments by the sports analysts and writers. I
plugged in many more comments and thoughts I had on certain things that could or
could not affect Derrick Rose in major ways. After adding everything in and making
revisions my article seemed more like an article that would be featured in Sports

Illustrated. I wrote my article with a very uncertain tone to keep the readers on their
toes and to keep them wondering what will happen. I ended with many questions to
also leave the topic open ended for those who like to contemplate and converse with
others about controversial topics. That was one of my favorite aspects about Sports
Illustrated from the beginning, and wanted to have that be a big focus for sure. I also
learned to write very in depth and descriptively which helped me to write this long
of an article. Analyzing also played a big part in expanding the information I
researched. It helped me be very thorough with Derricks life and not miss any
important things that could affect the choices he makes or what made him the way
he is to make those choices. This assignment has given me a broader perspective on
details and analysis which will help me in almost every single thing I do.