Jalen Rose
|
Jalen Rose as a player of the Chicago Bulls |
Jalen Anthony Rose (born
January 30,
1973 in
Detroit, Michigan) is an
American professional
basketball player currently with the
New York Knicks of the
National Basketball Association. He is the son of former
NBA player
Jimmy Walker.
After graduating from Southwestern High School in Detroit, Rose attended the
University of Michigan in which he participated in two losing appearances in
NCAA Finals games in 1992 and 1993 as a part of Wolverines coach
Steve Fisher's legendary
1991 recruiting class, dubbed the "
Fab Five". He set the school freshmen scoring record with 597 points. During his career, he has racked up 1500 points, 400 rebounds, and 100 assists.
Jalen has played for five different NBA teams, forging a solid pro career after skipping his senior season at Michigan. He was selected 13th overall by the
Denver Nuggets in the
1994 NBA Draft. After two years with Denver, he was traded to the
Indiana Pacers, along with
Reggie Williams and a future 1st round draft pick, for
Mark Jackson,
Ricky Pierce, and a 1st round draft pick. Perhaps Rose's greatest NBA moments thus far have occurred as a member of the
Indiana Pacers, as he helped the team get back on its feet after a disastrous
1997 season and make it to three consecutive
Eastern Conference Finals appearances, including an Eastern Conference championship in
2000 (though Indiana would ultimately lose the
NBA Finals to the
Los Angeles Lakers). During the 2001-2002 season, Rose was traded to the
Chicago Bulls along with
Travis Best,
Norman Richardson, and a future second round draft pick in exchange for
Brad Miller,
Ron Mercer,
Ron Artest and
Kevin Ollie.
After 16 games in the
2003-2004 season, Rose was traded to the
Toronto Raptors, along with
power forwards
Donyell Marshall and
Lonny Baxter. About midway through the 2005-2006 campaign, he was traded to the
New York Knicks for
Antonio Davis, where he was reunited with
Larry Brown, his coach for one year with the Indiana Pacers.
Player profile
As a player, the versatile Rose is known as a gifted scorer from the perimeter or the post, capable of putting up 20 points on most nights. Jalen is also a good passer, especially for his height, and Indiana often employed him as a
point forward. Rose is sometimes regarded as a team leader, though he reportedly was a disruptive force in the Pacers' locker room during his feud with then-coach
Isiah Thomas.
While he showed a willingness in Toronto to work harder than ever (particularly on defense), Rose also frequently clashed with Raptors coach
Sam Mitchell, who benched a struggling Jalen early in the
2005-2006 season in favor of rookie
Joey Graham. This co-incided with Raptors' abysmal 1-15 record in the month of December 2005.
In the following months, Rose at least raised his play to a more acceptable level. He increased his
PER more than three whole points (to 13.7) while averaging 12.1 points, 2.5 assists, and 2.8 rebounds per game. However, he only shot 40.4% from the field and 27% from
three-point range (including a 51.4 true shooting percentage) through 46 games.
On
February 3,
2006, Rose was traded, along with a first-round draft pick, and an undisclosed sum of cash (believed to be around $3 million), to the
New York Knicks in exchange for 38 year-old ex-Raptor
Antonio Davis. The motivation behind this trade was apparently to free up cap space (Rose earned close to $15 million a year) as well as to acquire an experienced center who can relieve some of
Chris Bosh's rebounding duties. Rose's final game and contribution for the Raptors was a home tie against the
Sacramento Kings, where he scored the winning basket in overtime. And in his first game against the Raptors as a Knicks player a couple of weeks later at
Madison Square Garden, the Knicks won, with some valuable points from Rose himself.
Rose is now focusing his attention on making his "Jalen Rose Messenger Toolbar" a success. Jalen hopes that his entry into the internet world will rival the success of
Mavericks owner
Mark Cuban, thanks to this innovation . The toolbar can be downloaded at Jalen's website.
Rose has also been a court side reporter for TBS during the playoffs (his own team, the Knicks, not making the cut).
Rose is also known for his sundry
ironic remarks.
*
ESPN.com*
Official Website*
The Official Jalen Rose Page at NBA.com*
SI.com*
Yahoo Sports
