On Saturday night, the Chicago Bulls honored franchise icon Derrick Rose by lifting his jersey to the United Center rafters. Making the night even better was the fact that the Bulls beat the Boston Celtics in epic fashion, thanks to a late three-pointer from Kevin Huerter.
Many of Rose's former Bulls teammates and coaches were in attendance for this game, including Tom Thibodeau, who helped guide the Bulls on several playoff runs during Rose's tenure.
At one point in his speech, Rose poked fun at Thibodeau's Harvard education, referencing his own freak athleticism in the process.
“Thibs you may have went to Harvard, you may have did physics, but I showed you physics,” said Rose, per Oh No He Didn't on X, formerly Twitter.
Thibodeau was then shown laughing.
Indeed, many of Rose's signature highlight plays seemed to defy the laws of gravity, as the former number one overall draft pick burst onto the scene in the Windy City and quickly became one of the most electrifying players of his generation.
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In 2010-11, Rose became the youngest player to ever win the NBA MVP award, a record that still stands to this day, and helped guide the Bulls to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they eventually lost to the Miami Heat.
Unfortunately, things went downhill from there, as Rose encountered several devastating injuries throughout the rest of his Chicago career. He went on to play with Thibodeau again with the Minnesota Timberwolves and New York Knicks before retiring in 2024.
Still, Rose is responsible for bringing Chicago its first real basketball excitement since Michael Jordan left town, and the franchise hasn't exactly been able to recapture that magic in the years since he departed, currently staring down a fourth straight appearance in the play-in game.
In any case, Rose's jersey retirement on Saturday sure seemed to bring back some fond memories.