Derrick Rose is in the running for the Most Improved Player award this season, and some of that apparently has to do with the time he spent as LeBron James’ teammate last season on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
In a recent interview, Rose admitted to watching James in order to learn about how the four-time MVP took care of his body.
.@MarneyGellner's son Grady chats with the @Timberwolves' Derrick Rose about his 50-point game, that green medicine ball and the movie Cast Away. Wait… he knows Cast Away? 😂 pic.twitter.com/EMF1S6Aup5
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) February 12, 2019
“I seen how he took care of his body,” Rose said. “I’m trying to do the same here. I was kind of spying on him the entire time while I was there even though he didn’t notice. I was looking at everything that he did.
“You have to right? Looking at the master there. So I took everything in and I think I learned from him.”
Rose’s career has been filled with both triumph and tragedy. He was one of the league’s seminal stars early in his career after being drafted first overall in the 2008 NBA Draft and was named the league’s MVP following the 2010-11 season.
Following that season, however, Rose suffered a number of massive injuries which forced him to participate in only 100 games over the following three seasons.
Last season, he struggled with several injuries and played just 16 games with the Cavs before being traded to and ultimately waive by the Utah Jazz in February.
Rose later signed with his current team, the Minnesota Timberwolves, and has shown a durability that he hasn’t enjoyed since his early days in the NBA. While Rose has missed 16 of the Wolves’ games this season, that number pales in comparison to the amount of time he has missed in previous seasons. He is currently averaging 18.4 points. 4.8 assists, and 2.8 rebounds per game.
While he didn’t spend too much time around James, it seems clear that the time they did share left quite a mark on the former MVP.
