Derrick Rose Unfiltered: NBA 2K, Kobe, Fatherhood & His Legacy

They're not going to remember me, so it's going to be the kid that actually do his due diligence that look up my story to find out my story.

What does Chicago mean to you?

It's one of the best places in the world.

You just got to come here to experience it.

On the outside, the narrative is, uh, is dangerous.

You can't walk anywhere, but that's only on the, that's the narrative on the outside.

When you come here it's some, something totally different.

A lot of people are blown back by the scenery.

The imagery, food, the culture, it's a lot here, it's a lot of cultures here, so it's a very diverse city.

We're building a foundation here by employing people, by giving people knowledge and just helping.

So that's one of the reasons why I came back to the city to give and to really help the youth here.

What, how you doing, Queen?

Thanks for coming.

Thanks for coming.

How you doing?

Oh my God, I gotta sign that I got you up there.

Yeah, I got you up there.

I got you.

How you doing?

Thank y'all for coming.

Thank you for coming.

Thank you for coming.

What up man?

This is a special event because 2K is partying with my flower shop.

You're on the cover of NBA 2K.

What does this moment mean to you?

I was blown away.

I mean, I play the game, uh, from time to time, uh, like normally when the game first comes out, I play it a lot with my son.

Then he kinda uh uh blows blow me away or he blows me out by the second week so I stopped playing but I've always been a fan.

I always uh participated and I love being a part of the paradigm.

You wanna know why my guy is so awesome?

Tell me because he's great in pick and roll.

Now back in the day you did a commercial with Kobe Bryant.

What do you remember most about your time with him?

Him making me wait 3 hours.

That's to remember most, my guy, waiting and um my agent explained to me at the time like this is all a part of like of the process where like I had to take the signing, you know what I mean?

He signed me and.

I had to chop it up to it's me and Kobe, so when he got there I had to act like I wasn't waiting 3 hours.

I had to act like, you know, yeah, like nothing happened, but with me going through that, it, it let me know the seniority part of it, and I, it made me pay homage to Kobe just knowing that he was playing my games even off the court.

When you look back on your playing days, what are you most proud of beyond the awards and the highlights?

When I look back, I think.

I think that I gave my all.

Like I don't have any regrets.

I know that each day, each practice, each surgery, each rehab, I, I attack.

So that's one of the reasons why I felt like I could walk away from the game the way I did, just be cool with going to the gym and not caring about shooting jump shots or anything, bro, not caring about the lights.

I, I love the presence, the moment, the state that I'm in right now, so.

Yeah, I don't have any regret.

I came in the league where everybody took the job.

They were a little bit older and mature, so no matter who you played against, they was going to play their hardest to try to outplay you.

So, um, I respected that and I, I gave respect and I got respect back.

You used to play for the New York Knicks.

What was it like?

Them win the championship.

I kind of had them winning almost in the entire time.

My son is a Jalen fan, so he was cheering for them the whole playoffs.

Yeah, I called Rick right before they got to the finals and told him that they was going to play against Wendy though, so and if they was going to play against them, that they was going to win.

So, uh, it worked out and I'm just happy for Jalen , happy for his family like Rick, all the time that he put into like his family and Jalen now and his, his daughter, like I watched from afar but it's inspiring.

How you doing?

I'm good.

You alright?

I'm good.

So any of the players that you wanna like show love to Asia, Reese and all them, this gonna find their way to them on behalf of a friend, he told me to do one for Olivia.

Alright, cool, yeah, that's my, that's, that's my number one right now.

We're showing love to WNBA today.

What do you appreciate most about women's basketball?

I would say the fundamental part of the game, where when you look at that game, it takes you back to the basics, and that's what basketball was basically like for where good basketball, great basketball is made out of the fabric of it.

You bring your fundamentals to a good team, add on to the team, and that team will be running like a machine one day.

That's what you hope for.

But um, whenever I look at that game, I, I see the purity of it.

I see people playing hard with the urgency and a skillful game.

Do you have a favorite WNBA player right now?

I will say the point guard for Minnesota right now, uh, Olivia, the way that she's always in attack mode, so you don't know if she's going to shoot or pass, and that , I, I love a mentality like that.

Um, I kind of have the same mentality and I'm trying to teach that to my son right now.

Obviously you're big on family.

What's fatherhood mean to you at this point in your life?

Oh, I mean, it's everything right now.

That is the reason why I retired.

Looking around, I didn't have a dad growing up, so I'm giving my kids my undivided.

I'm making sure that my presence is always felt, just being around whatever they need the good, the bad, the ugly, whatever adversity come their way, I'm there to talk it through them.

I, I try.

I train right now.

My son, I got some of your, I still got some of your signature animations, yeah, I'm, I, I when I shoot, I don't even no form.

I don't leave a forum or nothing.

I just y'all run.

Don't play me like that.

I run, bro.

I don't look at myself as being higher or bigger than anyone because of the sport I play, but any kids that want knowledge and they they're willing to ask questions, I'll give them the gems.

What do you hope the next generation remembers about D Rose?

Uh, that I played hard, that I was a winner, and to be honest, uh, the way my story kind of went there.

Uh 10 amount of years they're not gonna remember me, so it's gonna be the kid that actually do his due diligence that look up my story to find out my story because there's a lot of players that don't know Wilt Chamberlain, and he broke a lot of records and got all the awards.

Awards and got hella accolades, but these kids today don't know who he is or they don't know Bill Russell , and he got the most championships.

So who am I to say that they're going to remember me?

They probably don't, but the kid that do, I hope it's not by coincidence.