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Derrick Rose Delivers Real Talk to Players of His High School Alma Mater

Lawrence Andrew Fernandezby:Lawrence Fernandez•01/06/25•

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Derrick Rose
Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks former player Derrick Rose speaks as he is honored at halftime of a game between the Chicago Bulls and the New York Knicks at United Center. (© David Banks-Imagn Images)

While Derrick Rose experienced success at the highest basketball level, he continues to be invaluable to his community. In addition to opening a flower store in Chicago, Rose is still in touch with his alma mater, Simeon High School.

The school recently invited him to give a pep talk to the current crop of Wolverines. However, the three-time NBA All-Star gave Simeon’s players a rude awakening about the journey ahead. The 2009 NBA Rookie of the Year summarized his message into three aspects: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Rose’s wisdom regarding those three phases revolved around his NBA journey. He recounted the ‘good’ of his taking the league by storm and becoming the youngest player to win the Most Valuable Player award. Then, he relates the ‘bad’ of his dealing with injuries, mainly when he played healthy through high school and college. Finally, he recalls the ‘ugly’ part of his ACL injury.

Derrick Rose passionately shared with those hoping to follow his path:

“You gotta get through all the three phases: the good, the bad, the ugly. If you make it to the league, everything is good; you get an award. ‘I can play another 15 years.’ Second year, start to get little injuries, but nothing with surgery. I’ll call that the bad. Next year, torn ACL. Injury after injury, after injury: the ugly. Are you gonna stay in? The good, the bad, the ugly. That’s what I tell my son every day. If you can’t handle all three of those, ain’t no point of being up here. Just stop. Because it’s not going to be easy.”

Rose led the Wolverines to back-to-back Chicago Public League state championships. Those titles helped him become a McDonald’s All-American and Illinois Mr. Basketball in 2007. He played for the University of Memphis before embarking on a 16-year NBA career as a former number-one pick.

Meanwhile, Derrick Rose’s words could fuel the team to sustain their fantastic start. The Wolverines are 8-4 after defeating Curie 65-49. Simeon returns to action against Taft on Jan. 7 as the 32nd-ranked team in Illinois On3 Composite Team Rankings.