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 Last week, ESPN's Tony Kornheiser asked his Pardon the Interruption co-host Michael Wilbon, a Chicago native, who the bigger Chicago icon was: Michael Jordan or Oprah Winfrey. Without missing a beat, Wilbon replied, "Michael."
Even in the week Oprah's talk show was ending a 25-year run in Chi-town that made her one of the richest and most powerful women the world, Michael was still unquestionably the city's reigning king.
But perhaps Kornheiser's better question would have been, "Michael Jordan or Derrick Rose?" because the Bulls' young point guard has taken the NBA, and Chicago, by storm.
His improvement in the two seasons since winning Rookie of the Year in 2009 has been remarkable. He has added new elements to his game each season and is still only 22 years old. He led the Bulls to the top of the NBA standings and became the league's all-time youngest MVP in the process. In doing so, he's become the Bulls first true superstar since MJ stuck a jumper over Utah's Byron Russell to win the 1998 NBA Championship and retired.
His Airness is arguably the most iconic athlete in the modern era of professional sports - revolutionizing basketball, influencing race relations, changing the nature of corporate sponsorships, and most importantly putting the Chicago Bulls on the map. It's a lofty perch for Rose to reach, but with his roots in Chicago's gritty South Side, he has a shot to get there.
"The way I look at it is, What would happen if you could pass him? How big could you be?" he told Rich Bucher in the March 21st edition of ESPN the Magazine. "It would be crazy. It would be amazing if you could just get close."
Rose grew up in Englewood, one of the most dangerous neighbourhoods in the United States. He credits his mother, three older brothers, and basketball for keeping him out of trouble. He went on to star at Chicago's Simeon Career Academy before spending a year at the University of Memphis before returning home as the Bulls' top draft choice in 2008.
Naturally, he no longer lives in Englewood, but he hasn't forgotten it and it certainly hasn't forgotten him. For every point he scores in the playoffs, he's donating $25 to Murray Park, the court he developed his craft on. Harold's Chicken Shack, a chain of fried chicken joints that have become a South Side staple, honoured the young guard's achievements with a large mural in one of the stores.
If Rose can continue his meteoric rise into the upper echelon of the NBA, racking up titles, MVPs, and shoe deals along the way, all while keeping in touch with his South Side roots, he could very soon be mentioned in the same breath as the Greatest Basketball Player Who Ever Lived. |
Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar don't want to hear anything more about how they aren't main-event material. Not after the display they put on last time.
