Rose just signed with Memphis in July 2023 on a two-year deal, only two weeks after All-Star Ja Morant was suspended by the league for the first 25 games of the 2023-24 season. Rose was brought in not only to help fill that void but also to serve as a mentor to the controversial point guard. When Morant’s suspension ended and he was eligible to return to the court, the Grizzlies chose Rose as the person to officially welcome him back with a pregame announcement at halfcourt before his first game.
Rose has ties to Greater Memphis as he was an All-American while playing at the University of Memphis, leading the program to the 2008 NCAA Men’s Tournament National Championship Game, just the second appearance in school history. However, Rose didn’t see the court much during his second stint in the city, playing in only 24 games. He dealt with knee, hamstring, and lower back ailments, never playing more than five consecutive games at any point in the 2023-24 season. He sat out the final 23 games of the season and finished the year with averages of 8.0 points and 3.3 assists per game.
Rose struggling to stay on the court was a microcosm of the entire 2023-24 Grizzlies season as the team set a couple of NBA records because of how afflicted the entire roster was. There were 33 different players who suited up for at least one game for Memphis last year—an NBA record—and with all of those different faces, the team used 51 different starting lineups throughout the year—also an NBA record.
Since the Memphis coaches and front office got to see so many players in regular-season action, they had a deep inventory of players to get a good look at, and that could have affected the decision to move on from Rose. Fifteen of those 33 players were rookies or second-year players, while the 35-year-old Rose was the oldest player on the team by four years. With his salary far exceeding what the younger players were set to make, coupled with his limited action a year ago, the team elected to move on.
The Grizzlies were Rose’s sixth NBA team as he’s become a journeyman in the latter stages of his career. However, the Sixth Man role is one he’s embraced after numerous injuries sapped his ability to be a star player like he was with the Bulls. For three straight seasons from 2018-21, Rose finished in the top seven in Sixth Man of the Year award voting, and he did it with three different teams.
Rose is best remembered for his time with his hometown Chicago Bulls, who made him the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2008. He was Rookie of the Year in his first season, made three All-Star teams, and won the 2011 Most Valuable Player award. He was in Chicago for a total of eight seasons, playing in seven of them as he missed the entire 2012-13 season after tearing his ACL in the previous year’s playoffs. Numerous injuries would follow as Rose played in 240 of a possible 246 games (98 percent) during his first three seasons but just 483 out of 1,024 possible games (47 percent) since then.
Even though Rose’s stop in Memphis was brief, he was able to take something out of his stay, namely the relationship that his son, PJ, was able to form with Morant. The 11-year-old PJ Rose even played on Morant’s AAU team, and the bond that was formed between the two is what Rose said he’ll most remember about his time in Memphis during an end-of-season press conference following the last game of the Grizzlies’ 2023-24 season.
“[PJ] talking to Ja, being around Ja, just everything Ja represents as far as being a hooper and role model, my son is able to see that firsthand,” said Derrick Rose. “So I know I made the right decision [joining the Grizzlies] by the smile that my son gets on his face when he’s in the same van with Ja, or he’s with his dad. … Those moments are priceless.
“Even though the year wasn’t what I wanted it to be—far from that—but you have to see beauty in everything, and that’s the beauty that I see, what I got out of it. Not only that, but what my son gets out of it.”
