Times wires
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
CHICAGO — Derrick Rose was born in 1988, the year Wes Unseld was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, so there was no reason to expect the Bulls' star point guard to be familiar with the man he supplanted Tuesday as the youngest NBA MVP ever.
Rose only knew Unseld's throwback No. 41 jersey.
"The Bullets, right? Wasn't he a big man or something like that?" Rose asked. "I never watched any of his games."
Rose earned the award — receiving 113 out of a possible 121 first-place votes — after propelling the Bulls to the league's best record while averaging 25 points, 7.7 assists and 4.1 rebounds in his third season.
He had even more reason to be happy, practicing a day after turning his ankle in Chicago's loss to Atlanta in Game 1 of their second-round series. Rose said he'll be ready to play tonight.
Rose is 22 years, 7 months. Unseld turned 23 nine days before he won the MVP award with Washington in 1968-69. The honor was more low-key in Unseld's day. He told the Washington Post on Tuesday that he found out when he returned from a fishing trip and a message from the Bullets (now Wizards) awaited.
"I called them and they said, 'You won most valuable player.' I said, 'Thank you.' They said, 'Okay.' And that was it," Unseld said.