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Friday 27 September 2024
Derrick Rose, a No. 1 overall pick in 2008 and the 2011 NBA MVP,

announces retirement

By TIM REYNOLDS grateful for your meaningful
AP Basketball Writer contributions to this team
Derrick Rose’s last act as an and this city, and wish you all
NBA player came in the form the best in this next chapter
of a letter to the game of of life.” Rose dealt with mul-
basketball, addressing the tiple knee surgeries over the
highs and lows that he ex- years, took time away during
perienced over a 16-year the 2017-18 season to con-
pro career. And with that, his template his future while
career ended on his terms. dealing with ankle issues and
Rose, the No. 1 overall pick sat out nearly two full seasons
in the 2008 NBA draft by his after the knee injury in 2012
hometown Chicago Bulls when he should have been
and the league’s MVP in in his prime. Rose averaged
2011, announced his retire- 17.4 points and 5.2 assists in
ment on Thursday. He was, 723 regular-season games.
and still is, the youngest MVP He averaged 21 points per
winner in NBA history, claim- game before the ACL tear
ing that award when he was 12 years ago, and 15.1 per
just 22. game in the seasons that
“You believed in me through followed.
the highs and lows, my con- “With D-Rose, it was never a
stant when everything else Memphis Grizzlies guard Derrick Rose stands on the sideline in the second half of an NBA basketball question of his talent,” Bas-
seemed uncertain,” Rose game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Feb. 15, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. ketball Hall of Famer Dwy-
wrote as part of his letter to Associated Press ane Wade, a former Rose
the game, serving as his re- his first four seasons. A major adversity that would have season and when it ended teammate, said in 2018. “It
tirement announcement. He knee injury during the 2012 broken most,” Reinsdorf said. Rose spoke at length about was always about his health.
posted the letter online, as playoffs forced him to miss “Watching him grow from a what a return to Memphis And when he was healthy,
well as taking out full-page almost two full seasons and Chicago Public League star meant to him. everyone saw all the talent.”
newspaper advertisements he contemplated stepping to becoming the youngest “It’s all full circle,” Rose said Rose still flashed that MVP-
in each of the cities where away from the game several MVP in NBA history as a Bull in April. “Coming back here, level talent plenty of times
he played in his NBA years. times following other injury is- has been nothing short of having my family here, my over the years that followed
“You told me it’s okay to say sues, but always found ways an honor.” Besides the Bulls, wife’s family is from here, be- the knee troubles. He had
goodbye, reassuring me that to get back onto the floor. Rose would also play for New ing back in this arena, hav- a career-high 50 points for
you’ll always be a part of me, Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf York, Detroit, Minnesota, ing some of the people that Minnesota in a 128-125 win
no matter where life takes said Rose “represents the Cleveland and Memphis. came to my college games over Utah on Oct. 31, 2018
me,” he wrote. grit, resilience, and heart” He spent last season with actually come to my profes- a game that moved him
Rose was the league’s rookie of Chicago. the Grizzlies, returning to the sional games here, it’s all to tears. He had a 12-assist
of the year in 2008-09 for the “He’s one of the toughest city that he called home for love.”Added the Grizzlies in game for Detroit in a 115-107
Bulls, was the league’s MVP and most determined ath- his one season of college a statement Thursday where win over Houston on Dec. 14,
two seasons later and was an letes I’ve ever been around, basketball. He played in 24 they offered Rose congratu- 2019, his first such game in
All-Star selection in three of constantly fighting through games with the Grizzlies last lations on his career: “We are nearly eight years. q

Ex-champ Golovkin takes leading role in group aiming to save

boxing’s Olympic status

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Former time world middleweight champion who
world champion Gennady Golovkin is fought in some of the most lucrative bouts
taking a leading role in World Boxing, the of all time, finishing with a 42-2-1 record.
group aiming to keep the sport on the Since retirement, he has become presi-
Olympic program for the 2028 Los Angeles dent of Kazakhstan’s national Olympic
Games. committee.
World Boxing said on Thursday that Go- Boxing’s Olympic status is uncertain. The
lovkin would chair an “Olympic commis- IOC has set a deadline of early next year
sion” tasked with persuading the Interna- for a credible governing body to be in
tional Olympic Committee that the break- place after years of turmoil with the Inter-
away organization founded last year is fit national Boxing Association.
to run the competitions in Los Angeles. The IOC ran the last two Olympic tourna-
“For me, personally, as well as for all the ments on its own after first suspending and
sports world, it is important to preserve box- then banishing the IBA from the Games
ing as an Olympic sport, and this will be my and has said it no longer wishes to orga-
top priority,” Golovkin said in a statement. nize the tournament in-house.
“I also intend to work closely with the IOC World Boxing lists 44 national governing
on issues of boxing’s commitment to the bodies as members including the United
Boxer Gennadiy Golovkin, of Kazakhstan, speaks during an Olympic values of honesty, fairness and States, Britain and India. It most recently
interview with The Associated Press, Tuesday, June 28, 2022, in transparency.” added Japan and Algeria, whose federa-
New York. Golovkin won an Olympic silver medal in tion is home to Paris Olympic gold medalist
Associated Press 2004 and, after turning pro, was a long- Imane Khalif.q