On Saturday night, the Chicago Bulls immortalized franchise legend Derrick Rose by lifting his jersey to the rafters of the United Center. Making matters even more special was the fact that the Bulls were able to defeat the Boston Celtics in thrilling fashion thanks to a late three-pointer from Kevin Huerter in the corner.
At halftime of the game, Rose made a speech thanking the fanbase and reflecting on the special moment, and he also made sure to defend his former head coach, Tom Thibodeau, whom some have blamed for the frequent injury problems that defined the second half of Rose's career.
“I know a lot of people don't like Thibs. Because they look at Thibs and the injury part. But I'm here to say f*** that,” said Rose, per Oh No He Didn't on X, formerly Twitter.
Thibodeau has been known during his several coaching stops to play his starters significantly more minutes than any other team in the league, which continued to his most recent stint with the New York Knicks, where he also spent time as Rose's coach.
Meanwhile, Rose tore his ACL during the 2012 playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers and was forced to miss the entirety of the next season, and had several more injury setbacks from there, ultimately preventing him from reaching the MVP heights that he accomplished during the 2010-11 season.
How much of this was due to burnout from Thibodeau's high usage rate of his stars, and how much was just freak bad luck is impossible to determine, but Rose certainly doesn't seem to hold any grudges, and he is encouraging a famously petty Chicago fanbase, one that the widow of late general manager Jerry Krause two years ago, not to either.
In any case, the Bulls will next hit the floor on Monday evening for a home game against the Los Angeles Lakers.
