“We finally made it,” Derrick Rose 23, told his mother at today’s Berto center press conference that announced his five-year, $94-million contract extension with the Chicago Bulls.
The deal is the maximum extension, and Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau wished that he could sign the powerful, affable point guard to a 10-year-deal.
“What we’ve seen up to now, he embodies all the characteristics you look for in a championship player and it’s a lot more than the talent,” Thibodeau told reporters. “The talent is the obvious part. Then when you look at his will to win, his basketball IQ, his unselfishness, his humility, those are the things you can build a championship-caliber team around… Obviously, we’re excited to have him. I wish it was a 10-year contract.”
Gar Forman, the team’s general manager, agreed that the best is yet to come.
“I don’t think you can put a ceiling on what Derrick can become with his work ethic, drive and determination,” Forman said. “He’ll get better and better throughout his career.”
Rose, the franchise’s Most Valuable Player, the former Rookie of the Year, is the rose that grew from concrete; he hails from Englewood, at one time, considered to be one of the most blighted communities in the city. Today Englewood is making a steady turnaround in violence with neighborhood improvements and investments.
The whopping contract and confidence signals the Bulls may have found their next Michael Jordan.
Stay tuned!
Video: Derrick Rose’s Greatest Hits of 2011 by the Hoop Doctors
