Derrick Rose fights all odds to hit 50 points against Jazz
Derrick Rose, in his 11th NBA season off his injury-filled career, scored a career-high 50 points for the Minnesota Timberwolves against the Utah Jazz on Oct. 31. His game-winning block and basket sealed the win.
Timberwolves players mobbed Rose on the court as tears streamed down his face. They all knew how much this moment meant to him. The basketball world embraced Rose during his days as the youngest league MVP in history in 2010-11 with the Chicago Bulls.
Career-high 50 PTS | Game-winning block
An emotional Derrick Rose talks over his memorable night for the @Timberwolves!#AllEyesNorth #ThisIsWhyWePlay pic.twitter.com/YK28ptXyoG
— NBA (@NBA) November 1, 2018
After Rose’s anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear in his left knee in the 2012 playoffs, he had doubters, yet many people believed he would return to his former self. Suffering another injury in the 2013-14 season and having four knee surgeries, those believers were forced to watch him struggle to find a job. After being traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Utah Jazz in February 2018—his third team in three years—the Jazz dropped him without giving him the chance to play a single game.
Rose was almost out of the league completely, as only Minnesota was willing to sign him to a contract. Some would ask how the story of a millionaire athlete could be so inspiring. It’s not about the money, it’s about the adversity he faced within himself that made this performance so special.
Last February, a video surfaced of Rose playing basketball in a local gym in Cleveland. He was not on a roster. There was little press and cameras, no fans, just Rose and a local basketball player helping him workout.
As the injuries continued to pile up, even he doubted his basketball future, contemplating retirement before hitting 30 years old. Tom Thibodeau, his former coach in Chicago, was the only one willing to give him another chance, bringing him to the Timberwolves. Sometimes one person believing in you is all you need to pick yourself back up.
It was only fitting that, on Halloween night, Rose dressed up as his old self and scored a career-high 50 points, ironically, against the same team that waived him just nine months ago. He may never put on a performance like this again, but it doesn’t matter. After all the memes about his injuries and all the people trying to bury him, he never quit on himself.
This game will go down as one of the greatest moments in NBA history and for Rose, when asked post-game about what this moment meant to him, he said: “Everything. I worked my ass off. I did this for the franchise, the fans, the organization. I’m doing everything just to win, and tonight was a hell of a night.”
