American point guard Derrick Rose announced this Friday his retirement from basketball after playing 15 seasons in the NBA.
Rose, 35, was voted league MVP in the 2010-11 season, when he was a member of the Chicago Bulls, and was the youngest player to win the distinction, averaging 25 points and 7.7 assists per game.
The Bulls, precisely, chose him as number 1 in the 2008 draft. In that season he was chosen NBA Rookie of the Year and later was an ‘All Star’ three times.
In the Chicago franchise, his hometown, he played seven seasons before passing through the New York Knicks, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Detroit Pistons and the Memphis Grizzlies.
With the Grizzlies, for which he played last season, Rose agreed to terminate the last year of his contract.
In addition to reporting his retirement on social media, he also did so with announcements in the written press of the six cities in which he played.
“Knowing that I gave my all in the game, I feel confident in my decision. Basketball was just the beginning for me. Now, it’s important that I give everything to my family, they deserve it,” Rose said in statements to ESPN.
In their MVP season, the Bulls played in the Eastern Conference finals, in which they lost against the Miami Heat.
A tear of the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee the following season forced him to undergo surgery and his career since then was marked by various injuries that prevented him from recovering his previous level.
Rose averaged 17.4 points and 5.2 assists in 723 games, and with the American team he won the Basketball World Cup in 2010 and 2014.