How Derrick Rose Used Lessons From Michael Jordan in MVP Season

How Rose used lessons from Michael Jordan in MVP season originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

Even after winning Rookie of the Year in his first professional season, and earning an All-Star selection his second, there weren't many that would have believed a leap to most valuable player was possible entering Derrick Rose's third year.

Luckily, Rose himself wasn't included in that company.

He proved that much with a now-iconic answer on Media Day entering the 2010-11 campaign. Asked by Mark Schanowski his personal expectations for the season, Rose answered in part: "Why can't I be the MVP of the league?"

"I remember when he said that, I said, 'Oh, wow, I don't think the media knew what they just did,'" B.J. Armstrong, Rose's agent then and now, told NBC Sports Chicago's K.C. Johnson on a recent episode of the Bulls Talk Podcast. "They just gave him another challenge."

Rose stepped up, proceeding to become the youngest MVP in NBA history that season, averaging 25 points and 7.7 assists while leading the Bulls to 62 wins and the best record in the league.

Armstrong, whose relationship with Rose extends to a familial level, played a part in unlocking the 22-year-old lead guard's transcendence. And he did it by leaning on his experience playing on the first three-peat Bulls team with Michael Jordan.

"I remember that season in particular is because he had been around the league two years, right? He had seen the league," Armstrong told Johnson. "It's really important for a guard, I always say, 'OK you gotta learn the league, you gotta learn the arenas, you gotta learn the floors, you gotta learn the personnel.' And he had been around the league. So the third year was, 'OK, let's try to win and beat every team in the league, and if you can, sweep 'em.'

"Every night, it was great that we (he and Rose) would talk and we would try to figure out -- or he would figure out -- what he had to do to win that game. I kinda learned that, being in Chicago, in particular, I learned it from Michael (Jordan), because he would always challenge me, 'I gotta find a reason to be my best.'  I mean, I was like, 'What you mean I gotta, it's 82 games.' He was like, 'You gotta find it.' And he just kind of said it and walked away.

"So I would just, I would look for anywhere, I would look for it. I would look in -- back then it was a newspaper, I would look in the newspaper. Someone said something... I would look in the game notes. I would look, 'Oh this guy is hot.' I would try to find something that was gonna get me to my best, right? And I learned that from Michael because he always found something that was gonna keep him angry and upset. So that season, for 82 games, he (Rose) tried to win every single game.

"Once I saw him (Rose) do that, then I knew he was ready. I knew he was ready to challenge himself because that's the fun part, knowing that you can walk out on the floor and win every single time you step out there. And I learned that being on some good teams myself over the years and being able to compete against and play with some great players, so just one thing I tried to pass to him and he took to it, and as they say the rest is history."

Indeed it was. And as Rose continued to grow, Armstrong said, the similarities between he and Jordan became more apparent.

"Derrick never really compares himself, and he never really asks about a lot of players. What he would ask about situations," Armstrong said when asked if Rose asked about playing Jordan. "I remember one of the situations he asked me was, which I thought was a great question, and I remember his initial question was: 'How do you deal with fear? How do you deal with the fear of going into a game and having some doubt?' And I thought, 'Wow, there's only one other person that I've had that discussion with, and that was Michael.'"

Armstrong -- and by extension Jordan's -- answer?

"'I gotta walk into it,'" Armstrong said. " I remember when Derrick asked me that, and I was like, without hesitation I was like: 'Just walk into it. Let's see what that feels like. Let's see how comfortable you are being uncomfortable. Let's see how comfortable you are missing that shot and what that feels like and then let's talk about it.'

"And he didn't ask about it and then some time later he was like, 'That's what Michael did.' He just kind of said it it was like two weeks later. I didn't tell him that was Michael. He just kind of like, he just would pick things up."

Myriad last-second shots, feats of supernatural strength and athleticism, and battles through in-game adversity later, Armstrong knew Rose had "it."

"One thing he always knew was that he lived on an island. If you're gonna be the best player, if you're gonna be the star player, those players have to learn how to live on an island, they have to learn how to live in silence," Armstrong said. "They have to learn how to quiet the crowd down. They have to learn how to find their space within the chaos. And he knew that's where Michael was at his best.

"If you watched him, he was great at home, but he was even better on the road, because he could find the silence. And I would always say, 'Get to the silence.' Meaning, quiet the crowd down, make big shots, make big plays and make the arena quiet. That's where the great players live. And he loved it, he thrived in that. I mean, he thrived in that."

For more stories from Rose's Bulls tenure, MVP season and resurgence with the Knicks, check out the full podcast below:

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