Former Bulls MVP Derrick Rose retires from NBA after 16 seasons

CHICAGO (CBS/AP) — Derrick Rose announced on social media Thursday morning that he's retiring from the NBA after 16 seasons.

The Englewood native was drafted first overall by the Bulls in 2008, becoming the youngest MVP in league history.

As part of his announcement, Rose, 35, took out full-page ads in each of the markets of the teams he played for which also included the Knicks, Cavaliers, Wolves, Pistons, and Grizzlies. He spent last season with the Grizzlies, returning to the city that he called home for his one season of college basketball.

Rose, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft by his hometown Chicago Bulls and the league's MVP in 2011, announced his retirement on Thursday. He was, and still is, the youngest MVP winner in NBA history, claiming that award when he was just 22.

"You believed in me through the highs and lows, my constant when everything else seemed uncertain," Rose wrote as part of his letter to the game, serving as his retirement announcement. He posted the letter online, as well as taking out full-page newspaper advertisements in each of the cities where he played in his NBA years.

"You told me it's okay to say goodbye, reassuring me that you'll always be a part of me, no matter where life takes me," he wrote.

Rose dealt with multiple knee surgeries over the years, took time away during the 2017-18 season to contemplate his future while dealing with ankle issues and sat out nearly two full seasons — after the knee injury in 2012 — when he should have been in his prime.

Rose averaged 17.4 points and 5.2 assists in 723 regular-season games. He averaged 21 points per game before the ACL tear 12 years ago, and 15.1 per game in the seasons that followed.

Rose was a serious candidate for the league's sixth man of the year award in three straight seasons — 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 — and even got a first-place MVP vote again in that 2020-21 season, a decade after winning that award.

He announced his presence as a star quickly, winning the league's skills challenge — as a rookie — at All-Star weekend in 2009, then winning rookie of the year and scoring 36 points in his playoff debut. It was a meteoric rise for someone who grew up amid poverty in a Chicago suburb, then saw basketball as an escape route and way to take care of his mother and family. In 2006, he hit a shot to win an Illinois state high school championship. Only five years later, he was MVP of the NBA.

"The kid from Englewood turned into a Chicago legend," the Bulls posted on social media Thursday, along with a video of Rose's highlights with the team.