Former MVP Derrick Rose is retiring from the NBA after a 16-year career.
“Knowing that I gave my all to the game, I feel confident in my decision,” Rose told ESPN. “Basketball was just the beginning for me. Now, it’s important that I give my all to my family — they deserve that.”
Rose, 35, announced his decision on social media Thursday morning. He also took out pages in the local newspapers of the six NBA cities he played in — Chicago, New York, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Detroit and Memphis — to thank each fanbase.
The Memphis Grizzlies had granted Rose’s request to let him out of the final year of his contract earlier in the week.
Rose arrived in the league as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 draft, going to his hometown Chicago Bulls. The 6-foot-3 point guard quickly emerged as one of the NBA’s most exciting young stars, dominating and dazzling with his combination of athleticism and fearlessness.
Rose won the 2008-09 Rookie of the Year and was an All-Star the next three seasons. He became the youngest MVP in NBA history, winning the honor as a 22-year-old in 2010-11, when he averaged 25.0 points and 7.7 assists per game to lead the Bulls to a league-best 62-20 record before they made a run to the Eastern Conference finals.
The trajectory of Rose’s career turned when he tore his ACL during the first round of the 2012 playoffs. He missed the entire next season and was limited to only 10 games in 2013-14.
His eight-year run with the Bulls ended when Chicago traded Rose to the New York Knicks during the 2016 offseason. He was a journeyman in the second half of his career, as Rose was often hampered by injuries.
Rose finished his career with an average of 17.4 points and 5.2 assists in 723 games played, including 518 starts. He played only 77 games over the last three season, including 24 in his lone season in Memphis, the city where he starred on a college team that advanced to the 2008 national championship game.