As he begins his 13th season in the NBA, Derrick Rose clearly is not the same that he was as a rookie prodigy.
Make no mistake, he can still get to the rim and dazzle with acrobatic finishes that reprise that rookie season, but most of that video-game turbo boost and the electric dunks are simply a thing of the past.
What Rose has lost from a physical perspective, he’s more than compensated for in mental maturity and perspective. There are still moments where he can flash the bravado of the brash 20-year-old who was named rookie of the year and posted 16.