American Basketball player Derrick Rose, the youngest NBA MVP, announced his retirement after 16 seasons on the court, in a statement and on social media on Thursday.
“The next chapter is about pursuing my dreams and sharing my success,” he told the American sports magazine The Athletic the 35-year-old playmaker.
Youngest MVP in NBA history
Elected MVP in 2011 at just 22 years old, Derrick Rose remains the youngest player to have won this distinction in the American basketball league.
“Even if I could, I wouldn’t change anything about my story.”
After sixteen seasons with the Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers, among others, Rose is stepping down, hoping to “show the world” the man he is “beyond the world of basketball.”
“Whether it’s good or bad, everyone has a certain story in their life (…) Even if I could, I wouldn’t change anything about mine, because it’s what allowed me to find true joy,” he added in the statement.
On his Instagram account, Derrick Rose posted a photo in which he appears in front of a chess board holding a newspaper, where a message intended for basketball is written.
“Thank you, my first love, you believed in me, through the ups and downs (…) when everything seemed uncertain (…) You made every morning and night we spent together worth every drop of sweat (…) You showed me that passion is something to be cherished, by making sure I put my all into every dribble, every shot, every game,” it read.
Many knee injuries
The elegant point guard has seen his career disrupted by multiple injuries, particularly to his knees. In 2012, “D-Rose”, then playing for the Bulls, tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his knee, while his team had serious options to win the NBA title. He also had to withdraw from the London Olympics that same year.
He averaged 17.4 points and 5.2 assists in 723 games played.
