Photo Credit: JERRY HOLT, STAR TRIBUNE

Derrick Rose About His Favorite Basketball Game Ever

Last year was supposed to be the year Derrick Rose signs his super-max contract. Derrick Rose a max player? These days are long gone. Everyone knows, that Derrick Rose will never return to the level of play that saw him become the leagues youngest MVP in NBA history.

Many thought that his career has come to a point now, where he does not have an impact on teams anymore, me included.

After the New York Knicks weren’t interested in re-signing Rose last summer, he signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Then during the Cavs’ trade-deadline bonanza, Rose was traded to the Utah Jazz and instantly was waived by them. While he cleared waivers, no team made a serious effort to pick Rose up. Until his former coach Tom Thibodeau wanted him to be the veteran backup off the bench, the Wolves needed.

It turned out to be a success for Rose. The former MVP really impressed in the first round of the playoffs and was one of Minnesota’s lone bright spots. Tom Thibodeau praised the way Rose played and the Wolves brought Rose back for this season, where he so far has played pretty well.

But nontheless, Rose has had plenty of amazing games in his career. He now was asked about his favorite game in his career, by Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times.

For his answer, Rose went all the way back to 2006, to his junior year in high school. The Simeon Wolverines played in the Class AA state championship game against Richwoods High School. It was a tie game, already in overtime, when D-Rose stole the ball and drilled the game-winning jumper with 1.5 seconds remaining, giving Simeon its first state title since 1984.

“Best game I’ve ever played? That’s a hard one, bro,” Rose said. “I would have to say my first championship game, the [Illinois] state championship. It was a low-scoring game. It was like 34-32 (31-29 actually). It was just a grimy game. They played zone all game. I was a junior at the time and everybody that was an upperclassman, that were seniors, we wanted to win it for them because we knew we’d have a better chance to win it the next year. We wanted them to go out with a bang. And, I hit the shot. A game-winner. Buzzer-beater. That was a big moment.”