Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Since entering the NBA, Derrick Rose has had quite an accomplished career. Selected first overall by the Chicago Bulls in the 2008 draft, Rose went on to be named Rookie of the Year that season. Since then he has been selected to three All-Star games as well as winning MVP in 2010-2011. However, there is still one accomplishment that Rose has yet to cross off his to-do list which is win an NBA championship. Sure enough, Rose has made it clear that that is his one and only goal this season.
Unlike many athletes nowadays, Derrick Rose is not very active on social media. However, on Monday, Rose took to Facebook to share with his friends/followers that he has one goal heading into the 2013-2014 NBA Season: Win a championship. His latest status was simple yet powerful reading “My only goal is to win a championship.”
These eight words speak tremendous volumes to Chicago Bulls fans as not only would they love to see Rose lead the Bulls back to the promised land, but also because Rose has been known to accomplish his goals. It was around this time three years ago, as Rose was preparing to enter just his third season in the NBA, that he made a bold claim much like what fans saw on his Facebook status last night. During a preseason press conference a reporter asked Rose what his personal goals were as he prepared to enter the next step in his already decorated career. He responded by proclaiming that he has very high standards for himself. “Why can’t I be the MVP of the league? Why can’t I be the best player in the league?”
As I mentioned earlier, Rose did indeed end up winning the MVP award that season as he went on to have a career year in 2010-2011. Rose put up exceptional averages of 25 ppg, 7.7 apg, 4.1 rpg and 1.0 spg on his way to becoming the youngest MVP in league history. Rose led Chicago all the way to the Eastern Conference finals that season where they ended up losing to the Miami Heat in five games. However, Rose proved to the league that year that he was a force to be reckoned with and had his eyes set on NBA greatness and league wide domination.
Some people questioned how much of a team player Rose was last year as he made the choice to sit out the entire season while the rest of his teammates were battling through grueling injuries night in and night out to keep the team in playoff contention. However, Rose’s selflessness should no longer be questioned after proclaiming that his only goal is to win a championship. After coming back from a major injury like Rose is (torn ACL), your average player would not set their goals too high and instead be more focused on getting back into the groove of the game. Rose, on the other hand, is not your average player and has his eyes set on an NBA title. Only time will tell if Rose has set his goals too high, but it is nice to see him wanting to achieve greatness in just his first season back from injury.
