Sportswriters, self-proclaimed pundits, and the serious and casual National Basketball Association are clamoring for the Chicago Bulls to make local basketball phenom Derrick Rose the team’s first pick in the coming draft. The prevailing rationale is Rose
He’s home-grown, he’s basketball savvy, an on court leader are some of the descriptions tossed out about Rose. His basketball prowess is not in question, nor is the fact that whomever selects Rose will make him rich enough to buy most of his old Englewood neighborhood.
Rose, a Simeon product, opted for one year of college at the University of Memphis before deciding to enter the NBA draft. The time in Tennessee was meant more to cultivate his game than his academic acumen. With that mission successfully behind him, Rose is poised to be the talk of Chicago.
He’s on record talking about the many benefits of playing before hometown fans. But what Rose and everyone who is hoping he’s wearing the Bulls red and black next year is overlooking is whether Chicago is the best place to launch a NBA career. The answer is a resounding no. Maybe it’s just folk being polite, but no one is talking about the local leeches who will plague Rose once he sets up household in or near Chicago.
It’s not endemic to the city, but a fact of life for folk who come from meager means and find themselves wealthier than the president of the United States. Stories about long lost fathers showing up once their sons start collecting multi-million checks are legend throughout the sports industry. Siblings with no marketable skills are suddenly demanding their newly rich brother put them on the payroll.
High school coaches and assistant coaches weasel their way back into the player’s life with every intention of trying to convince the player to convince the pro team to hire the coach. The Los Angeles Lakers Kobe Bryant, the greatest Bulls player of all time, Michael Jordan, and scores of others can advise young Rose of the havoc nearly endless lines of gold diggers posing as female fans, can wreak on a player’s life.
Seasoned pro athletes are succumbing to the charms of female seductresses, so how much of a chance does an unworldly new millionaire have to stave off the harlots? That’s not only on the road, but more so at home where a young man is probably much more inclined to visit old haunts and encounter the “I knew you when” crowd. Rose is about to leave the University of Memphis with at least as much potential as talent.
He deserves the opportunity to develop that potential and start moving in the direction of the kind of man he will ultimately be. Being rich does not make one wise, but experience can cultivate whatever wisdom one has. The positive experiences young Rose can obtain away from his hometown are countless. Rose, like any teenager, is far more inclined to discover the fascinations and frustrations the world has to offer if he is chartering unknown territories. But the frustrations and travails need not be insurmountable.
Even in Phoenix or Dallas or New York City, Rose can do great things for Chicago. He undoubtedly will be revered by those at his alma mater, Simeon Career Academy. If he is strong minded enough to establish a foundation with an experienced executive director running it, and not a friend, there are a number of school district needs such an organization can meet.
Like many of his soon-to-be colleagues have done, Rose can establish a summer camp that incorporates learning and basketball. Should the Bulls pass on drafting Rose, it will fit more of the team’s tradition.
No Chicago-grown first round pick has ever been drafted by the home team, including standouts such as Isaiah Thomas, Mark Aguirre, LaRue Martin and Kevin Garnett. Rose would do well to look to Garnett, the Minnesota Timberwolves forward, who joined the NBA immediately out of high school.
Garnett the veteran has managed to grow and thrive in the league, while avoiding the scandals and even nasty rumors that plague so many young ballers, not really ready for the life of a pro athlete.
There is no doubt the attention and possibilities are head turning for Rose, but he owes it to himself to look deep within and ask not what is best for any team, but what is best for him.
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