Shams Charania reflects on how special and humble prime Derrick Rose was

"He stayed true to the game."

© Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

Before he became one of the premiere basketball insiders, Shams Charania had humble beginnings as a casual Windy City sports fan who held a special regard for the Bulls. Being a Midwest kid, Shams often credited the Bulls’ existence as one of the driving forces that brought him to who he is now.

In his experience of being a lifelong Bulls fan, nothing tops what he saw during the team's fantastic days when Derrick Rose was the face of not only the Chicago franchise but the entire NBA.

A down-to-earth star

Growing up as a Bulls supporter while witnessing the team's ascension powered by D-Rose during the 2010-11 season was a major revelation for Charania.

That year, Derrick delivered a meteoric rise in the NBA and carried Chicago on his broad shoulders. Averaging 25.0 points and 7.7 assists, his emergence as one of the best players in the world propelled the Bulls to a dream season — winning a league-leading 62 games — which ultimately allowed him to become the NBA’s youngest Most Valuable Player at the age of 22.

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And despite the superstardom and buzz he drew from the entire basketball community, Rose remained true and humble to himself — which Shams still remembers when he was a teenager trying to make a name for himself in the sports media scenes.

“2010 to 2011, that was my junior year of high school. … He was that dude and the crazy part of getting to know him just a little bit and interviewing him a few times, he always stayed true to who he is as a person,” he said upon appearing in Club 520 Podcast. “He never was someone that was trying to push himself out there for attention and try to be at the lights. He always stayed true to the game.”

A well deserved MVP 

From the remarkable leadership and individual showmanship that Rose demonstrated, Shams believes that the Bulls superstar rightfully claimed that season's MVP plum, in contrast to what many are saying that LeBron James got robbed.

LeBron was notably Derrick’s closest competitor for the award, as he averaged 26.7 points, 7.5 boards, and 7.0 assists for the second-seeded Miami Heat. But in the end, he came up short of winning the recognition as Rose came away with a much better MVP case by carrying the Bulls to its best year since the Michael Jordan era.

“That year in general, that team, the way he carried them on a night-to-night basis, I know people can debate like statistically — people like LeBron, he stole the MVP from LeBron, LeBron should've won the MVP — but if you get the No. 1 seed out of nowhere the way he did, and he was carrying that team as a 6-foot-2 point guard. To me, you got to say he was the most athletic guy,” Shams said.

“D-Rose led that team to the Conference Finals. … That season, you got to say he dominated.”

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