The versatility of Rose's game makes him one of the most exciting players in the NBA. He can push the ball up court, shoot the 15 foot jumper, shoot the three, or drive to the basket. Basically, Rose can play three positions, while most players struggle to even play one.
Rose grew up in Detroit, idolizing NBA players like Magic Johnson. He played on two state championship teams at Southwestern High School. In his senior year, Rose was named to the McDonald's All-American team.
His fame in basketball first began as a trash-talking member of Michigan's Fab Five. In his college years, Rose set the freshman scoring record of 597 points. He also finished with an average of 17.5 points and 4.7 rebounds. With his Fab Five team, Rose made two trips to the NCAA title game. On Michigan's all-time list, Rose ranks fourth in steals with 114, fifth in assists with 401 and sixth in scoring with 1,788 points. He also is one of only two players in school history to record 1,500 points, 400 rebounds, 300 assists and 100 steals. In his junior year, Rose was named to the Associated Press Second-Team All-American.
In 1994, Rose was chosen by the Denver Nuggets as the first round, thirteenth overall pick. As a rookie, Rose set the assists record with 389 assists in one season and averaged 8.2 points and 4.8 assists. After setting a Denver Rookie record with 389 assists, Rose was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team in 1994 Rose was the point guard for two seasons and averaged 9.1 points and 5.5 assists in Denver.
After leaving the Wolverines one year early for the NBA draft, Rose went back in 1995 to get his degree.
On June 13, 1996, Rose and Reggie Williams were traded to the Indiana Pacers for Mark Jackson, Ricky Pierce and an exchange of first-round picks that moved Indiana up to tenth.
Rose began his years in Indiana with a minor role, playing in 66 games and six starts with his playing time dropping from 26.7 minutes to 18 minutes under former head coach Larry Brown.
After receiving criticism about his game from Brown, Rose showed his anger on the court rather than with his mouth.
"The way to respond to that is not to lash out," Rose said in an interview. "What's that going to do?"
In his YEAR season's Rose has been a quiet, stagnant player. He became the Pacers' sixth man with an average of 11.1 points as the bench's small forward. However, when Rose replaced starting forward Chris Mullin, Rose had his break-out season. With the guidance of former Indiana head coach Larry Bird, Rose has developed into one of the league's best players.
In his 1999-2000 season, Rose had his best pro season with an average of 18.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.05 steals. He had a season and career-high 35 points against Houston, the most points scored that season by a Pacer. Rose also was or tied the team's high scorer in 29 games. With his improvement, Rose received the Most Improved Player Award with Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki, Detroit's Jerry Stackhouse and teammate Austin Croshere in second, third and fourth respectively in votes. Rose also edged Reggie Miller to become the Pacers' leading scorer and the first player other than Miller to lead Indiana in scoring since 1988.
Rose failed to make it to the NBA Finals in 1999, losing in the Eastern Conference Finals to the New York Knicks, but in a 2000 rematch, the Pacers advanced to the 2000 NBA Finals with a win over the Knicks.
If anyone had any doubt about Rose's talent as a basketball star, Rose definitely put it to rest in his performance in the 2000 NBA Finals. In a 120-87 game 5 victory, Rose led the Pacers with 32 points, shooting 4-5 behind the three point line and scoring 22 points by halftime.
On a more personal note, Rose is an avid boxing fan. Most importantly, Rose will soon be married and expects a child in July.
