Derrick Rose of the Bulls was honored as the Rookie of the Year. It is not astonishing as similar to other efficient point guards, Rose rarely let anything slip away. However, on 22nd April 2009, he allowed a secret to slip away. The secret was that he was in need of this award desperately. Rose disclosed that when he initially approached this season, it was his ambition to win this award. All the time he was saying that he doesn’t care for this award, but the truth was that he did. On the court, there was a considerable amount of talent that he had to compete against.
General Manager’s words
John Paxson, the General Manager, remarked that it was truly significant how Rose had led the basketball team from the first day and played at a certain remarkable level. This indicates that as the team moves forward from this state, they have the person that they mean to build around.
The voting
Rose joined the list of Michael Jordan and Elton Brand, thus becoming the 3rd Bulls player to win this award. A national panel of broadcasters and sports writers offered him 111 first place votes and 574 points. O.J. Mayo of the Memphis Grizzlies became the runner-up as he was given 5 first place votes and 127 points. It was not surprising that such a voting took place because Rose led all rookies in assists per game (6.3) and was 2nd in scoring average (16.8).