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Derrick Rose Could Have Special Role in Knicks' Playoff Run

Even if Derrick Rose isn't destined to see any minutes on the floor in the upcoming NBA Playoffs, he's set to play a major role for the New York Knicks.

Geoff Magliocchetti

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
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Could a 34-year-old, oft-injured MVP winner from days gone by, one whose playing time during the calendar year of 2022 barely beats out the length of the pregame national anthem, wind up becoming the biggest factor behind an NBA playoff run?

Only in New York, folks ... only in New York. 

Saturday's tip-off between the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers (6 p.m. ET, ESPN) will mark several postseason debuts: the Knicks certainly hope that this is the first of several playoff showings with Jalen Brunson in tow while Josh Hart prepares to make his professional postseason debut after 372 regular season showings. On the other side, the Cavs are set to make their first spring appearance without the services of LeBron James in the new century.

The opener could also serve as the beginning of the end if that ending wasn't apparently written over the winter: however many games the Knicks have left on their docket, that's more than likely how long Derrick Rose has left in his metropolitan career. 

A relic of postseason days gone by, Rose has taken to Madison Square Garden hardwood just once since New Year's Day, a two-minute showing in a blowout win over New Orleans on Feb. 25. Despite a relatively hopeful offseason, one where Rose prided himself on getting down closer to his rookie year playing weight, the 2011 MVP has long fallen out of the Knicks' rotation. Some viewed another garbage time showing in Chicago, the site of some of his finest hoops endeavors, as a de facto farewell. But the former Chicago Bull remains buried on the Knicks' bench when a trade or buyout did not materialize. 

Yet, when the season has reached its most crucial stages, teammates are still finding an open Rose for guidance toward victory. 

"He hasn’t been in the rotation for us. He’s been kind of one of the biggest key factors for us on the bench, talking to us, giving me tips, Jalen (Brunson) tips, whoever really kind of comes out of the game," Quentin Grimes, another postseason virgin, said of Rose, per Peter Botte of the New York Post. "Given what we’re going through, stuff out there in practice, he’s definitely talking more. He’s talking to me, (Miles McBride), anybody, anybody who will listen."

"He’s been in those situations. He knows what it takes ... he’s an MVP, a Hall of Famer, you’re going to listen to him every time he talks. So, it’s definitely going to be something I take advantage of, for sure.”

With 51 NBA postseason contests under his belt (including five in the Knicks' last playoff trip in 2021, where he was the leading scorer in the lost series to the Atlanta Hawks), Rose is far and away the New Yorker most accustomed to the postseason. The famed tournament has granted Rose both euphoria and heartbreak. 

As a 20-year-old, he formally introduced himself to the postseason realm with a 36-point showing against the defending champion Boston Celtics in 2009. His game-winning bank against the Cavs from the 2015 Eastern Conference semifinal round will no doubt be played in promotions and hype videos ad nauseam until the Larry O'Brien Trophy is hoisted. Rose also played a major factor in the Knicks' most recent postseason triumph, scoring 26 points off the bench in a Game 2 win over Atlanta that sent Madison Square Garden into hysterics. 

Alas, the basketball gods giveth and taketh away. Not only did Chicago lose both of those memorable series in addition to the Knicks' defeat but Rose's career hasn't truly been the same since he tore his ACL at the height of his power toward the end of an assured victory over Philadelphia in the 2012 opener. 

Even though, barring a massive blowout or perhaps imminent elimination, Rose is unlikely to see the floor against the Cavaliers or anyone else the Knicks may face moving forward, his teammates continue to see an indispensable role for him, especially with the familiar anxiety of the postseason looming. 

"I feel like the past week and a half or so, he’s been a little more vocal,” Grimes told The Post. “I think he kind of feels the excitement coming back, the playoffs coming around."

“Obviously, he’s still got some juice and he can still play. But that’s not his role on this team," All-Star Julius Randle said in February, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. "I would argue that he’s having just as much if not more of an impact vocally as a leader for us. He’s constantly talking to me, giving me advice. His impact is huge. I love to see him out on the floor.”

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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Geoff Magliocchetti
GEOFF MAGLIOCCHETTI

Editor-In-Chief at All Knicks

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