Jalen Rose

infobox NBA Player


caption =
name = Jalen Rose
nickname =
position = Point Guard/Shooting guard/Small forward
height_ft = 6 | height_in = 8
weight_lbs = 215
nationality = American
birth_date = birth date and age|1973|1|30
birth_place = Detroit, Michigan
college = Michigan
draft = 13th overall
draft_year = 1994
draft_team = Denver Nuggets
career_start = 1994
career_end =2007
former_teams = Denver Nuggets (1994–1996) Indiana Pacers (1996–2002) Chicago Bulls (2002–2004) Toronto Raptors (2003–2006) New York Knicks (2006)
Phoenix Suns (2006–2007)
awards = All-Rookie (1995)
Most Improved Player (2000)

Jalen Anthony Rose (born January 30 1973 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American professional basketball player, formerly in the NBA. In college he was a member of the University of Michigan Wolverines' "Fab Five" (along with Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson) that reached the 1992 & 1993 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship games as both Freshmen and Sophomores. Rose's biological father Jimmy Walker was a former #1 overall pick who started in the backcourt alongside Jerry West in an NBA All-Star game at one point in his career. Walker died in July 2007 of lung cancer. Although they eventually spoke several times over the phone, Rose never met his father in person [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=Rose-Walker&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1 The legacy of Jimmy Walker and Jalen Rose] ] . Although most Michigan Wolverines men's basketball records from 1992–1998 have been forfeited due to NCAA sanctions, Rose's second All-American season (1993–94) was not and only the final two games of his first All-American season (1991–92) were forfeited.cite book|title=2007-08 Men's Basketball Media Guide|publisher=University of Michigan|page=13-21|date=2007]

College career

As a star at Southwestern High School in Detroit, Rose obtained a high profile and can even be seen at a high school All-American camp in the documentary film, "Hoop Dreams." Rose attended the University of Michigan where the Wolverines reached two NCAA Finals games in 1992 and 1993, finishing as national runners up both times. Rose was a part of Wolverines coach Steve Fisher's legendary 1991 recruiting class, dubbed the "Fab Five". He led the Fab Five in scoring his freshman year averaging 19 points per game and set the school freshman scoring record with 597 total points. Aside from being the most outspoken of the Fab Five, Rose was also their point guard and leader. During his career, he racked up over 1700 points, 400 rebounds, 400 assists and 100 steals. Of the players called before the grand jury (Robert Traylor, Webber, Rose, Maurice Taylor, and Louis Bullock)cite web|url=http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/aanews/basketball/index.ssf?/stories/wolverines/20001019amartin19.frm|title= Former U-M assistant testifies in Martin case: Also, prosecutors issue two indictments of Martin's associates |accessdate=2008-08-21|date=2000-10-19|publisher=Michigan Live LLC|work=Ann Arbor News|author=Larcom,Geoff] in the University of Michigan basketball scandal, he was the only one not listed as having received large amounts of money. [cite web|url=http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/aanews/basketball/index.ssf?/stories/wolverines/20020322martin_indictment_text.html|title=Text of the indictment|accessdate=2008-08-19|date=2002-03-22|publisher=Michigan Live LLC|work=Ann Arbor News]

NBA career

Rose has played for six 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 first round draft pick, for Mark Jackson, Ricky Pierce, and a 1st round draft pick.

Perhaps Rose's greatest 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 1996-97 season and make it to three consecutive Eastern Conference Finals appearances. As a member of the Pacers, Rose became the first player in eight years other than Reggie Miller to lead the team in scoring in the 1999-2000 season when he averaged 18.2 points per game for the eventual Eastern Conference Champions. He helped lead them to the Eastern Conference Championship in 2000 (though Indiana would ultimately lose the NBA Finals to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games). Rose averaged 23 points per game in the six game Finals series, including a 32 point effort in a game five win.

Despite his successes in Indiana, he was never readily accepted. While always a high scorer, Rose logged a lot of DNPCD's (Did Not Play - Coach's Decision) by Coaches Larry Brown and Larry Bird. Rose also often spoke out about the fact he was being used as a backup 2 guard and small forward over his preference, which was point guard.

During the 2001-02 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.

Jalen Rose was expected to be the veteran franchise player that the Bulls could build their youngsters around. Unfortunately, the team's young players failed to develop, the coaches failed to successfully lead the team, and Rose failed to reach the All-Star level the Bulls felt certain he would reach.

After 16 games in the 2003-04 season, Rose was traded to the Toronto Raptors, along with power forwards Donyell Marshall and Lonny Baxter. Jalen Rose found moderate success with the Raptors, but the team soon decided to rebuild.

On February 3, 2006, midway through the 2005-06 campaign, he 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 for Antonio Davis, where he was reunited with Larry Brown, his coach for one year with the Indiana Pacers. The motivation behind this trade was apparently to free up cap space (Rose earned close to $18 million a year) as well as for the Raptors to acquire an experienced center who could relieve some of Chris Bosh's rebounding duties. Rose's final game and contribution for the Raptors was a home win against the Sacramento Kings, where he scored the winning basket in overtime.

Rose's tenure with the Knicks was uneventful and prior to the start of the 2006-07 NBA season on October 30, 2006, the Knicks cut ties with Rose by waiving him. He was courted by several teams including the Phoenix Suns, Detroit Pistons and Miami Heat. On November 3, 2006, Rose announced he would sign with the Suns on his blog at jalenrose.com. On November 7, it was officially announced that Rose had signed a $1.5 million one-year deal with Phoenix. [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2652852 ESPN - Full bloom: Free agent Rose signs deal with Suns - NBA ] ]

As a member of the Phoenix Suns, Rose did not play very many minutes. The fast-paced Suns offense was too fast for the aging swingman and his knees became a liability on defense. Upon the Suns' elimination from the 2007 NBA Playoffs, he became a regular commentator for ESPN giving regular insider perspective on games from both a player's and analyst's perspective.Rose has also been a courtside reporter for TNT during the playoffs.

Player profile

A left-handed player, Rose is known to have a smooth and versatile offensive game. Jalen is particularly gifted as a scorer from the perimeter or the post, capable of putting up 20 points most any night. Jalen has been used throughout his career at three different positions. He began his career as a point guard for the Denver Nuggets and became a shooting guard/small forward for the Indiana Pacers. He then returned to the point guard position briefly with the Toronto Raptors. However, during his career he was most effective as a small forward or swingman. Jalen is also a good passer, especially for his height, and Indiana often employed him as a point forward. Not known for his defense, Rose's best moment defensively came during the 1997-1998 season, when Rose emerged as a defensive stopper on Michael Jordan in the Eastern Conference Finals, though the Bulls pulled out the series in seven games. Rose has sometimes been regarded as a team leader, particularly under head coach Larry Bird, though he reportedly was a disruptive force in the Pacers' locker room during his feud with the coach at that time Isiah Thomas, after Thomas cut former Fab Five teammate Jimmy King on the final day to do so before the 2000-2001 season.

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 2005-06 season in favor of rookie Joey Graham. This coincided with the Raptors' abysmal 1-15 record for the month of December, 2005.

In the following months, Rose at least raised his play to a more acceptable level. He increased his Player Efficiency Rating 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.

Off the court

Rose is a supporter of his alma mater and was seen rooting for Michigan's basketball team during the 2006 NIT Final Four with fellow ex-Wolverine, Maurice Taylor. Rose is also known for his philanthropic efforts. He contributes to inner city youth by helping to build reading centers. He has also given Dikembe Mutombo a check for $100,000 to help with the construction of an operating room for the hospital Mutumbo built in the Congo. [http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007703120396]

Rose is the owner of Three Tier Entertainment, an independent, LA based management and production company. Created in 2007, Three Tier Entertainment is heavily involved in the development of television & film projects and also manages talent including directors, actors and screenplay writers.

References

External links

* [http://www.nba.com/playerfile/jalen_rose/index.html Official Jalen Rose player profile at NBA.com]
* [http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=2636 ESPN.com]
* [http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/r/roseja01.html Jalen Rose] at basketball-reference.com
* [http://www.basketballreference.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=ROSEJA01 Jalen Rose] at basketballreference.com
* [http://www.jalenrose.com Official Website]
* [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/players/2636/ SI.com]
* [http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/2636 Yahoo Sports]
* [http://stats.ath.umich.edu/basketball/basketstart.php University of Michigan Basketball Statistical Archive]
* [http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=JalenTV YouTube page]
* [http://threetierentertainment.com/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/ Three Tier Entertainment]