Just four days into the new year, the Bulls franchise honored one of their own with a special ‘The Derrick Rose Night.’ Ever since he announced his retirement in September, tributes from all-time greats like Dwyane Wade, Allen Iverson, and Kevin Garnett have poured in. But the guard from Englewood also influenced today’s generation of players. One of them is the Cavs star, who admired Pooh but recently agreed that he has failed to inculcate one quality in his game.

“But just his relentlessness bro, he was just relentless like get it by any means necessary. He couldn’t shoot it as well, but just his handle his quickness and just getting to the paint, shooting a floater, using his athleticism, which I don’t have. Wish I had!”

Speaking to Draymond Green and Baron Davis, Garland spoke about what he admitted about Derrick Rose’s game first. Later, he highlighted the athleticism of Pooh, which he lacked.

Even Davis confirmed, “Nobody got his athleticism.” Later Garland added, “His explosiveness was insane. He just brought so much excitement to the city and then like as a young kid just watching him on a night-to-night basis, it was super cool to see the youngest MVP in the league. It just brought so much inspiration for us, like we used to lower the go so I can go duck like D Rose.” There is also an interesting full-circle moment about the Cavs star and his admiration for Derrick Rose.

During the Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis, Garland first spoke about having the #1 jersey of the Bulls and how he later faced him. “That number one Jersey, that was the first jersey I’ve had, and that was the only one I’ve had.” He continued, “Then my rookie year, my first preseason game was against D-Rose when he was in Detroit. I was like, ‘Man, this is insane.'”

In that podcast, the Cavs point guard also shared that his bond with the Windy City franchise started because the Bulls were his grandmother’s favorite team. He would often visit the United Center to watch the team perform. And thus, he watched Derrick Rose mesmerize the whole world. Yet the 36-year-old once doubted his own ability.

Derrick Rose had reservations about his playing style in his rookie year

The Englewood, Chicago native, was the #1 overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft. Obviously, there was a lot of pressure on his young shoulders. The season ended with him being the ROTY. Where he led first-year players in assists (6.3 per game) and was second among rookies in scoring (16.8 points per game). In the upcoming seasons, he also became the youngest MVP in the league’s history, scoring 25 points per game playing in 81 games during the regular season.

But it wasn’t easy for him to adjust and make his mark. At least that is what he thought initially. He recalled how during his initial time in the league he was going for high layups. That’s when somebody asked him why he was not going for dunks instead.

“I didn’t think that was a thing. I didn’t think that it would change the mindset of people, of Bigs, once I go in the lane.” Rose said, in a conversation with Joakim Noah, on the Chicago Bulls’ YouTube channel.

“It was in Chicago… After I made that dunk… it opened up the lane for me. And that’s when I knew, all right, I can have moments like this.” His big dunk over Phoenix Suns guard, Leandro Barbosa, gave him confidence in his abilities which he used without any reservations going forward to create a place in people’s hearts that even Garland fondly recalled!