During the 2017-18 NBA season, Derrick Rose and LeBron James were briefly teammates on the Cleveland Cavaliers and Rose made sure he did everything he could to learn from LeBron, arguably the greatest basketball player ever.
In 2019 while playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Rose admitted that he spied on LeBron.
“I seen how he took care of his body,” Rose said about LeBron. “And I’m trying to do the same here. I was kind of spying on him the entire time while I was there even though he didn’t notice. I was looking at everything that he did.
“You have to right? Looking at the master there. So I took everything in and I think I learned from him.”
Rose only played 16 games for the Cavaliers in 2017-18 before getting traded at the 2018 trade deadline. He suffered a sprained left ankle in the second game of the season with the Cavaliers after getting taken out of the air by Milwaukee Bucks big man Greg Monroe and missed four consecutive games.
Rose played in five straight games after missing four in a row, but he was still in a lot of pain and took a personal leave of absence to assess his NBA future. The Memphis product, who became the youngest MVP in NBA history in 2011 with his hometown Chicago Bulls, missed 32 consecutive games.
Rose and LeBron played in nine more games together before Rose was traded to the Utah Jazz. The Jazz waived Rose since they thought he was damaged goods and the three-time All-Star was an unrestricted free agent for about a month before the Timberwolves signed him in March 2018.
Rose rejuvenated his career with the Timberwolves, averaging 14.2 points and 2.6 assists in the 2018 playoffs and 18.0 points and 4.3 assists during the 2018-19 season.
On Halloween in 2018, Rose scored a career-high 50 points against the Jazz and cried during his postgame interview since he had been through a lot since winning MVP.
LeBron, who was in his first season with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018-19, called Rose a “superhero” following the 50-point game.
“I think every kid that — you don’t have to play sports — any kid that’s going through anything in life about adversity and triumph and trying to just get over the hump, you can look at that performance by Derrick Rose tonight,” LeBron said. “And that’s why our game is so unbelievable because even when a superhero is knocked down, he’s still a superhero at the end of the day and Derrick Rose showed why he’s still a superhero.”
Rose signed with the Detroit Pistons in the offseason of 2019 and averaged 18.1 points and 5.6 assists in 2019-20. The Lakers tried to trade for Rose at the 2020 trade deadline, but Los Angeles and Detroit couldn’t agree on a deal.
After Rose requested a trade, the Pistons traded him to the New York Knicks on February 8, 2021. Rose helped New York secure the fourth-best record in the East in 2020-21 and averaged 19.4 points and 5.0 assists in the 2021 playoffs.
Rose has undergone eight surgeries on his body. He has played for the Bulls, Knicks (twice), Cavaliers, Timberwolves, Pistons and Memphis Grizzlies.
Rose has career averages of 17.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.3 blocks. He has made three All-Star teams and one All-NBA team.
Rose also won the 2008-09 Rookie of the Year Award.
LeBron has career averages of 27.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.4 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.7 blocks with the Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Lakers. He’s a four-time MVP, a four-time champion and a four-time Finals MVP.
LeBron is first in NBA history in points, fourth in assists, eighth in steals, second in field goals, eighth in 3-point field goals, fifth in triple-doubles, seventh in points per game and third in player efficiency rating.
LeBron is the only player in NBA history to rank top five all-time in points and assists, the only player to win three Finals MVPs with three different teams, the only player with 30,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 10,000 assists and the only player to score 40,000 points.
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