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Lakers’ LeBron James sends ‘GOAT’ message to Derrick Rose after retirement

Posted on September 27, 2024 - 7:07 am by

LeBron James took to Instagram to congratulate Derrick Rose on his retirement from the NBA

With Derrick Rose announcing his retirement from the NBA, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James took to Instagram to show some love.

LeBron James posted multiple times on his Instagram story, saying “Much love and respect Pooh!!! Salute šŸ«”” followed by “Forever”, “Immortalized”, and a goat emoji.

There is undoubtedly a lot of respect for Derrick Rose coming from LeBron James. Rose is one of the more popular players in the last decade or so, especially from his time with the Chicago Bulls. His announcement brings a lot of nostalgia for players and fans of the NBA.



In recent days, there was some confusion regarding Rose being let out of his contract with the Memphis Grizzlies. It was his request, and now we have clarity on why he made that ask. Rose spent 17 years in the NBA, winning an MVP award in the 2010-2011 season and making the All-Star team three times.

LeBron James and Derrick Rose as Eastern Conference rivals

Before James ended up with the Lakers, he and Rose went at it in the Eastern Conference. In that 2011 season, Rose’s Bulls and at the time James’ Miami Heat were on a collision course to meet in the Conference Finals.

That ended up happening, with the Heat coming out on top in five games. It looked like that matchup would happen again the next year, but then Rose suffered the infamous ACL injury in the first round of the playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers.



It’s a shame that fans were robbed of that matchup happening again, although a few years later after Rose returned to the court, he and James did face off in the playoffs after LeBron returned to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

It will always be a what-if in regard to what would have happened if Rose never suffered that ACL injury. Regardless, his career will be remembered fondly in eyes of players and fans.