Everybody's got their poison, and mine is sugar.
Derrick Rose
As long as I have my faith in God, I'm good. I know everything else is going to come.
People think that I'm mean because I'm quiet, and I don't really go out places or because I don't really say too much. On the other hand, people think that I'm soft because I may not handle myself the way other people handle themselves. That's just not me. They don't know my background or none of that stuff.
The hard part that I had to go through in life, period, is living in poverty and not being able to get what I want.
I believe that I'm a special player. I think people love the way I just try to play. I don't try to impress anyone when I'm playing or anything. I just have a feel for the game.
When I was younger, I just thought about playing in the NBA.
I love eating it - grilled chicken, pasta, rice, and other foods that give me long term energy. Every once in a while, my sweet tooth gets the best of me and I have to snack on some candy. Beverage wise, I stick to sports drinks, water, milk, and juice.
I won't ever put myself in a bad position so that people can say bad things about me. I make smart decisions, and my friends and my family, they are all there for the right reason.
If I just do everything the opposite of what my dad did, I think that will make things pretty easy. I can joke about it now because I'm past that stage where it used to hurt. By having a kid, it's gone. I could take all that negative energy that I had and put it in a positive way.
It's tough growing up where I grew up. My family is very small and really tight. Just being around the neighborhood, my brothers were always around. I didn't want to be in any trouble because I knew my mom or brothers would find out. I didn't want to hurt their feelings. I just tried to do everything right.
The way I dress, I dress totally different than I did when I was in college. I have to - try to - look professional. You change a lot when you are in the NBA, but I know where I came from.
Don't get me wrong. I don't take anything for granted. But it seems like the better I play, the more attention I get. And I can't get away from it. You play great, you get attention. But I hate attention. It is weird. I'm in a bind. The more you win, the more they come.
Playing all of these games, getting to know everything about the NBA, you realize that you are your own business. You have business meetings to go to, signings to go to. Like, I'm only 20, but the stuff I'm doing the average 20-year-old isn't doing.
My mom is real passionate and a family-first woman. She always told me that just because I can shoot a basketball better than someone else, I shouldn't think that I'm better than them. I know if I change, my friends and family would lay me down. She just wants to see her kids do right.
It is very important to me to maintain a consistent workout regimen during the season. The Bulls staff does a great job with providing me with a weekly workout, and these kept me energized throughout my rookie season. In the off season, I try to increase my strength and add new dimensions to my game.
All physical activity begins with the body's core. I maintain the strength in my core so that I can jump, run, start, stop, and accelerate at the highest levels.
On Halloween, don't you know back when you were little, your mom tells you don't eat any candy until she checks it? I used to be so tempted to eat my candy on the way to other people's houses. That used to be such a tease.
My whole life has been nothing but trying to find a way to take care of my mom and take care of my family as quickly as possible.
I want to thank my mom, Brenda Rose. My heart, the reason I play the way I play, just everything. Just knowing the days I don't feel right, going to practice, having a hard time, I think about her when she had to wake me up, go to work and make sure I was all right. Those were hard days.
My days shouldn't be hard because I'm doing what I'm doing and that's playing basketball.
In my era, where I'm from, I only had Donald Whiteside. He's from Englewood and he's the only one that came out of Englewood. Other than him, I really didn't have anyone else to look up to that was from my area. So in seeing him, I never gave up hope, just kept playing and then I realized that I might have a future in basketball.
McDonald's is over with. But chips and candy and stuff, it's going to be hard to get away from that.
Being healthy is a complete lifestyle for me. It allows my brain to function at a very high degree so I can comprehend all the new things that are thrown at me. It also allows me to sleep well so that I am rested when I need to perform. Finally, being healthy will hopefully allow me to live a long and fun-filled life.
