Rose: Winning MVP 'Makes Me Want To Work Harder'
CHICAGO (CBS) Back in September, Derrick Rose asked a simple question: "why can't I be the MVP of the league?" On Tuesday, the Bulls third-year point guard officially became the youngest Most Valuable Player in the NBA's history.
Rose becomes only the second player in Bulls' history to win the award, joining the company of Michael Jordan, who won the award five times.
But when asked on Tuesday if he thought he could reach or surpass Jordan's five awards, Rose humbly brushed off any comparison to MJ.
"It would be great to get close to him," Rose said "But this is a different team and a different era."
Rose went on to say that wanted nothing to those comparisons and that he and his teammates are only focused on the next game in front of them.
But still, the historical significance of being the youngest recipient of the award wasn't lost on Rose. He described the experience as "amazing," and made it clear that this personal accolade will only make him work harder.
"To get the MVP at 22 years old," Rose said, "it makes me want to push harder, to work harder, to stay in the gym longer."
Rose was the runaway winner of the award, receiving 1,182 total points to Dwight Howard's second best 643 total points. His margin of victory was even more impressive considering he was the recipient of 113 of the 121 first place votes.
