Derrick Rose’s mother, Brenda Rose, is at his side as he accepts the NBA MVP award. (Credit: CBS)
CHICAGO (CBS) – The special bond between Derrick Rose and his mother Brenda stole the show Tuesday, as they fought back tears of joy.
As CBS 2’s Ryan Baker reports, there’s no question she’s the most valuable person in his life.
At every Bulls home game, Brenda Rose cheers on her baby boy from her familiar perch high above the United Center court.
Does it even register to her that her son is Derrick Rose?
“Sometimes it does, and I’ll be saying, ‘am I here?” Brenda Rose said. “The best thing I like about it that he can throw me my kiss and I throw it back to him.”
They’ve come a long way from the Englewood neighborhood where Brenda raised Derrick and his three older brothers – Dwayne, Reggie and Allan – as a single mother.
“It was very tough growing up there,” says Derrick Rose. “Every day, of course, you have to watch your back.” But his mother says Englewood wasn’t all bad. “People say Englewood is bad, but he was around people that was family oriented,” says Brenda.
When Derrick was drafted and signed the first contract, the first thing he bought his mom was a nice house. “She wanted to take everything from the old house to the new house. She’s like a pack rat,” says Derrick Rose.
Something Brenda Rose will never part with is her extensive memorabilia collection of her superstar son.
“My Mom is kind of obsessed with me,” says Derrick with a chuckle. “You go in the basement and she’s got like a shrine of me throughout the whole basement.”
But she also knows how to keep him humble. “He was never put in a position when you’re like ‘up there’ you’re one of the regular kids in the family,” says Brenda Rose. When asked if she lets him know it, she adds, “Yes I will let him know! I’m the Mama!”
And Derrick says she’s the one who motivates him to play at an MVP level.
“Just knowing what she went through every day…working just for her kids. She got four sons and all of us went to school and she means a lot to us,” says Derrick.
What makes Derrick the most valuable player to Brenda? “He’s my baby and I love him to death . And I always tell him that he’s a gift from God to me,” says Brenda.
