Derrick Rose, who won the MVP in the prime of his career, is retiring after 16 seasons in the NBA. 

The 35-year-old was selected by the Chicago Bulls with the first overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft and had an immediate impact on the franchise.

Rose won rookie of the year in 2008-09 and is still the youngest player in NBA history to win the MVP in the 2010-11 season at 22 years old, while also making the All-Star team in three of the first four years of his career. 

Rose announced his retirement on social media, as well as taking out full-page advertisements in each of the cities where he played. 

“You believed in me through the highs and lows, my constant when everything else seemed uncertain,” Rose wrote as part of his letter to the game, serving as his retirement announcement.

NBA LEGEND VINCE CARTER TO GET 2 JERSEY RETIREMENT CEREMONIES DURING 2024-25 SEASON: REPORTS

Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose (1) is presented the MVP trophy before game one of the second round of the 2011 NBA playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks at the United Center.  (Mike DiNovo-USA Today Sports)

“You gave me a gift, our time together, one that I will cherish for the rest of my days. You told me it’s okay to say goodbye, reassuring me that you’ll always be a part of me, no matter where life takes me,” Rose wrote.

Rose was on track to be one of the NBA’s biggest superstars before tearing his ACL in Game 1 of the Bulls’ first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers in 2012. Rose never had the same explosiveness around the rim, and nearly missed two full seasons while recovering from the surgery.

Memphis Grizzlies guard Derrick Rose (23) handles the ball as Houston Rockets guard Fred VanVleet (5) defends during the first half at FedExForum.  (Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports)

After spending seven seasons with the Bulls, Rose played for five other franchises in his career. He played with the New York Knicks in two different stints, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Detroit Pistons and the Minnesota Timberwolves, and spent his final season with the Memphis Grizzlies.

Rose averaged 17.4 points and 5.2 assists over his 723 career regular season games. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Tom Petty might as well have been singing about UCLA football’s latest ordeal when he uttered one of his most famous lines.

The waiting is the hardest part.

Those lyrics, written more than four decades ago in reference to a performer antsy to get on stage, will also apply to the Bruins (1-2 overall, 0-1 Big Ten) on Saturday as they wait … and wait … and wait for an 8 p.m. PDT kickoff against No. 8 Oregon (3-0, 0-0) at the Rose Bowl.

It will go down as UCLA’s latest start on the West Coast since 1990. Players can grab a leisurely breakfast at their Pasadena hotel, lie out by the pool and watch a full day’s worth of college football before boarding the team bus.

“A little hot tub, foam roll, but I don’t think it changes too much,” Bruins tight end Jack Pedersen said of his routine. “You just shift everything back a few hours and you just get ready. Put your cleats on, put your helmet on and go play, you know?”

Traditionally, late starts have led to weird things, sometimes favoring the underdog. But Oregon has reason to be filled with confidence in what will go down as both its first Big Ten game and its “Big Ten After Dark” debut.

The Ducks are 4-0 under coach Dan Lanning and have won 12 consecutive games when kicking off at 7 p.m. Pacific time or later. Oregon has also dominated its series against UCLA in recent years, winning the past four meetings and 10 of the last 11.

Here are four things to watch in a game that will be broadcast by Fox:

P.J. Carlesimo can’t remember the exact play, but he can’t forget how helpless it made him feel. It took place on Martin Luther King Jr. Day last season, in the second half of an Atlanta Hawks home game against the San Antonio Spurs.

Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama reached back, using his 7-foot-4 frame and massive wingspan to grab a pass, hanging in the air as if in slow motion, completing a remarkable catch with an improbable finish.

Carlesimo, a former NBA head coach and current ESPN radio analyst, turned to broadcast partner Marc Kestecher and said: “Kesty, I feel terrible. I can’t describe this. What he just did was absurd, and he made it look so easy.”

The No. 1 pick of the 2023 NBA Draft, Wembanyama arrived last season billed as a generational player who could one day join the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Dončić and Nikola Jokić as faces of the league. After a strong first season, in which he won NBA Rookie of the Year and was first-team All-Defense, that day might come sooner than expected.

At the recent 12th annual Jerry Colangelo Basketball Hall of Fame Golf Classic in Phoenix, The Athletic asked former players and head coaches about where expectations should start for Wembanyama entering Year 2. No one preached patience. After just one season, they see a player positioned for a significant jump.

Former Los Angeles Lakers guard and NBA head coach Byron Scott said he expects Wembanyama, who turns 21 in January, to be an All-Star this season, maybe first- or second-team All-NBA, and for the Spurs, who went 22-60 last season, to sniff, if not make the playoffs for the first time since 2019.

“If he’s everything that I keep hearing about as far as his work ethic — and I’ve heard the kid is extremely humble and works extremely hard — he’ll be the best player in the NBA in three years,’’ Scott said of the French product.

As a rookie, Wembanyama averaged 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists. Although he shot 32.5 percent on 394 3-point attempts, his shooting touch suggested he’s capable of better accuracy. Wembanyama hit five 3s three times, including twice in the season’s final three contests. He also blocked a league-best 3.6 blocked shots, most since Miami’s Hassan Whiteside rejected 3.7 per game in the 2015-16 season.

The MLK game Carlesimo referenced offered a strong reflection of the big man’s first season. The rebuilding Spurs fell behind early, sleepwalking on both ends. At halftime, Atlanta led 69-34. To start the second half, San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich benched Wembanyama, who was scoreless with four rebounds, as well as two other starters. He wanted better effort.

Wembanyama watched as the Spurs tried to cut into Atlanta’s lead. TNT broadcasters wondered if he’d sit the rest of the game. Finally, Popovich inserted Wembanyama with 6:03 left in the third quarter. Over the game’s final 18 minutes, Wembanyama put on a show.

He grabbed an offensive rebound and dunked. He grabbed a defensive rebound and started a break that led to a transition 3. He blocked a shot. Swished a 3. Caught the ball on the wing, dribbled behind his back and soared for a strong one-handed dunk. In a 109-99 defeat, Wembanyama finished with 26 points (on nine dunks), which included the play that Carlesimo struggled to describe.

“And he does something like that — I don’t want to say every game, he doesn’t do it 82 times — but if you watch three games, you’re going to see something you’re not going to see in any other game in the league,’’ Carlesimo said.

Wemby flashes the handle and rises up for the monstrous finish 😱

📺 Hawks-Spurs is LIVE on TNT pic.twitter.com/I5zKTNIT5V

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— NBA (@NBA) January 15, 2024

Hall of Famer Spencer Haywood had a heads-up on this. His brother, Floyd, who played and coached in France, told him a good one was coming. Haywood watched Wembanyama closely this summer during the Olympics, and what he saw was a player growing “by leaps and bounds.” Not just from the end of his rookie season to the Olympics, but from his first game in Paris to his last, the championship game in which France lost to a loaded Team USA.

Wembanyama reminds Haywood of Ralph Sampson, a natural comparison because of size. Sampson also stood 7 foot 4. And like Wembanyama, he was the No. 1 pick of the NBA Draft, nearly 40 years to the day San Antonio selected Wembanyama.

“Ralph had that stuff,” Haywood said of the big man’s skills. “He could handle (the ball) that way, but we had a cap on our handle so we couldn’t take shots. We couldn’t do certain things.”

In a side room at the Arizona Biltmore, where former players and coaches registered for the Colangelo event, Haywood spotted Sampson walking outside in the lobby. He pulled him in and brought him into the conversation.

“Tell him,” Haywood instructed, pointing to a reporter.

Sampson wasn’t having it. He didn’t want to talk about himself in such a way.

“I let others say it,” he said.

In 1983, Sampson, a three-time national player of the year at Virginia, was considered the best big man to enter the draft since Bill Walton in 1974. Leading up to his first season with the Houston Rockets, one NBA writer called him the “most graceful 7-4 man alive.” The great Pete Newell said Sampson would be a different type of center, one who didn’t have to be anchored in the post.

After a rocky start, Sampson blossomed, earning 1984 NBA Rookie of the Year honors and making the All-Star team his first four years in the league. Teamed with Hakeem Olajuwon to form the famed “Twin Towers,” Sampson memorably hit a catch-and-shoot jumper at the buzzer to eliminate the Showtime Lakers in the 1986 Western Conference finals. From there, however, Sampson struggled to stay on the court because of knee and back issues. He lasted nine seasons and was out of the league before his 32nd birthday.

At the Colangelo event, Sampson joked about Wembanyama ending up with the Spurs. “He couldn’t be in Detroit,” he said sarcastically. But Sampson said it’s fun to see the evolution of the 7-footer, as well as all the things Wembanyama can do — things he tried 40 years ago, things big men were not supposed to do.

“He’s going to be spectacular if he can stay healthy,’’ said Sampson, enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012. “And he can’t do it by himself. They have to put some people around him that he can play with.”

Per NBA.com, San Antonio had the NBA’s youngest team last season with an average age of 23.52 years. The Spurs selected versatile guard Stephon Castle with the No. 4 pick of the 2024 draft. Perhaps more importantly, they also signed veteran point guard Chris Paul to a one-year deal. Among the best point guards in NBA history, Paul has worked with players of all types, running pick-and-rolls with Tyson Chandler, throwing lobs to Blake Griffin and finding Devin Booker for open jumpers. He should work well with Wembanyama.

“Chris Paul is going to make him a lot better,’’ Hall of Fame point guard Gary Payton said. “He’s going to get him in the right places and get him the ball at the right time, and then once (Wembanyama) gets stronger and a little bit more seasoning, it’s going to be hard to stop him.”

Not long ago, The Athletic asked Colangelo about Wilt Chamberlain and if the four-time MVP gets overlooked in the “Greatest of All-Time” debate. Colangelo understood the question. He realizes he’s one of the few who have been around the game long enough to talk intelligently about Chamberlain and Jerry West as well as Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. Plus, as the former managing director of USA Basketball, he’s seen the best that basketball offers.

But Colangelo has learned this is an impossible exercise. There’s always a next wave, he said. Chamberlain, West and Oscar Robertson. Larry Bird, Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. Bryant and James. And now here comes Wembanyama.

“I mean, how good is he going to be?” Colangelo said. “That’s a little eerie. The skill level. What he’s already accomplished. If he stays healthy, he could be one of the most dominant players, obviously, of all time.”

Praising a young player like this makes Carlesimo a little uncomfortable. He knows how the NBA hype machine works. The chase for greatness never stops. If Wembanyama wins a first championship, everyone will wonder when he will win a second. But Carlesimo also knows this is a unique situation. The off-the-charts expectations aren’t hype; they’re deserved. And Wembanyama seems capable of handling the pressure.

“You’re happy for him, but …” Carlesimo said, stopping as he began to laugh. “The expectations are, I mean, my God. Because there hasn’t been anybody like him.”

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(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; photo: Tim Warner / Getty Images)