Derrick Rose will officially reach Chicago immortality when the Bulls retire his jersey this season, marking the completion of a full-circle moment for one of the great icons in the city’s basketball history. Rose will see his iconic No. 1 raised into the United Center rafters on January 24, presumably at halftime of the team’s game against the Boston Celtics that evening.
Rose, a son of Chicago himself, attended Simeon High School during his teenage years and wore the prestigious No. 25, which the school reserves for its greatest players in honor of the late Benji Wilson. Rose, a top five player in the famed Class of 2007 who wore No. 1 for the Meanstreets travel ball program he played for, took his talents to Memphis for his lone season of college basketball, leading the Tigers to overtime of the 2008 national championship game before eventually declaring for that year’s NBA Draft.
January 24, 2026 🌹
Join us for Derrick Rose Jersey Retirement Night when we officially add No. 1 to the United Center rafters. pic.twitter.com/WvuNMEwWkn
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) August 21, 2025
A Simple And Fateful Choice
The Bulls didn’t have to think too hard to select Rose No. 1 overall, but it did take some divine (or David Stern) intervention for Chicago to land the top pick that year with just a 1.7 percent chance to win the draft lottery. Although the cruelty of injuries prevented the storybook career the scriptwriters envisioned Rose would have in the Windy City, the bond he had with the most prolific fan base in basketball was one of the most unabashed love affairs in American sports for a few years.
It didn’t take long for Rose to justify his position as one of the great guard prospects of his generation. In 2011 at 22 years old, he edged out a prime LeBron James to become the youngest player in NBA history to take home the MVP award. LeBron and the stacked Miami Heat got the better of Rose in the Eastern Conference Finals that year, and it was sadly the only legitimate look at what could have been a defining rivalry during the 2010s.
Through The Ups And Downs
As reality would tell it, Rose would lead the Bulls to a league-best 50-16 record during the lockout-shortened season 2011-12 season, but tragedy would strike in Game 1 of the Bulls’ first-round series against the No. 8 seed Philadelphia 76ers in late April. Leading by 12 points with just over a minute remaining, Rose would go down in a heap during a drive to the basket with an injury that would change the trajectory of not only his own career, but of the Chicago Bulls franchise and NBA history at large.
In a way, the trials and tribulations that Rose faced while chasing the ghost of the player he once was only deepened his bond with the city that saw him go from that a somewhat shy, baby-faced kid at Simeon High School, to an NBA MVP, to a player that had been dealt one of the most unfortunate hands of any star player in league history. On January 24, 2026, Chicago and Derrick Rose will stand hand in hand one more time in remembrance of both the ups and downs of a career that was incredibly memorable, if nothing else.
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