Former Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose playoff debut vs Celtics reflected by Joakim Noah

“What Pooh was able to do in that game one, I knew that we were going to be good for a long time, it was just the intensity change in the playoffs,” Noah said. “And that was the first time when I was like, okay, this is a whole different thing. Even though we lost that playoff series, I think that that series like really shaped us as a team.”

Joakim then recalled one specific instance that, from his perspective, proved the confidence and humility of Derrick Rose.

“There was a moment in that series [where] I think you got your Rookie of the Year trophy in game three, and [you] came into the arena wearing sunglasses, and we got smoked in game three,” he said. “I remember, like, Pooh never wore sunglasses. Ever. And we never talked about this. But it was something that for me it’s a moment that I remember really clearly.”

He added: “It was like like the humility that he carried through people acting a certain way towards him because he was such a special player that to me it was bigger than tying Kareem’s record or anything like that. It was just like the way he carried himself.”

Derrick Rose On Preparing for Games: “It Prevents Poor Performance”

On the topic of his iconic moment with Goran Dragic, called the “Dragon Slayer” dunk, Derrick Rose touched on the importance of practice and preparation for moments like it.

“You get to the gym, get that little, little sweat before you get on the court because of the conditions, the heat and the thing,” he said. “It was perfect.  I remember, going up. Not for this one, but it was games prior to this, like my rookie year. I’m going up to, like, making I’m doing, like, hot layups. And somebody said to me, like, are you going to just turn it up and just start dunking?”

Derrick Rose added: “Proper preparation prevents poor performance. So I was always prepping myself for moments like this. I didn’t choose this. It chose me, man.”