NBA 2K10: Derrick Rose Q&A

By: Brian Ekberg

Derrick Rose might be one of the first, if not the first, professional athlete to be featured as the cover star of a sports game which has no cover. Of course, I'm referring to the recently released NBA 2K Draft Combine, which was released a couple weeks back as a precursor to the full release of NBA 2K10, due in early October. I recently had a chance to speak with Rose while the Chicago Bulls point guard was in Los Angeles filming a commercial for NBA 2K10 with that game's cover star, Kobe Bryant. Rose, who starts his second season in the NBA this year, is clearly still acclimating to the NBA lifestyle and isn't above a bit of starry-eyed hero worship in the presence of mega-stars like Kobe, as I found out in my brief chat with him.

GameSpot: Hey Derrick, how are you man?

Derrick Rose: Fine.

GS: Good. You know, usually when I interview an athlete it's because they're appearing on the cover of a sports video game, but this game has no cover. Tell me about getting involved with Draft Combine. Have you played the game yet?

DR: It's really interesting getting any type of deal with 2K, that's something I've been planning for a long time, but the [game] itself, I haven't played it yet. Just hearing [about] it, you can go on there, start from like the beginning and get your average player and you can send them to like [the D] league and eventually he can end up playing in the NBA if he's good enough.

GS: Because you were the number one overall pick, I'm wondering what your draft combine experience was like as opposed to a guy who was further down the list. Did you do much in the summer league and that kind of stuff in your year between college and pros?

DR: Oh, yeah, mine [was] quite different, like, you had some players that wasn't on the radar and they had to do extra stuff like play against each other. But the first five or six picks didn't really have to do anything but work out for the team. But other people with the combine had to play against each other. We still had to do the drills but we didn't have to do the up and down, [or] the playing that [other players] did.

GS: They don't want to get you guys hurt, right?

DR: No.

GS: So I understand you're shooting a commercial today with Kobe Bryant, is that correct?

DR: Yeah.

GS: Tell me about that.

DR: We supposed to be like gamers, we actually do play the game, love the game. And we're just sitting here on the couch with a comedian--Chris Hardwick. And we're supposed to be jumping around playing the game with him, and he's making us laugh. It's a fun experience and I'm happy that I'm here.

GS: Had you met Kobe before today?

DR: No, I'm quite honored to be even doing this with him. This is my first commercial shoot and the closest I ever got to him was on the court and I asked him to sign a pair of my shoes.

GS: Nice. When you were younger were you a big fan of games?

DR: Yeah, I love video games, especially when I was younger. And if I wasn't playing basketball outside on the court I was always playing some type of game, because my brother, my older brothers, they always had the best games. So, I like any time of game--adventure games, of course sports games. But, any game that's fun and like, got to do with adventures I like.

GS: What's your all time favorite video game?

DR: All time? 2K. [laughs]

GS: [laughs] Good answer. When you were coming up with your career did you have a player you modeled your game after? Somebody you wanted to be when you were young?

DR: My favorite player of all time was Michael Jordan, but we're totally two different type of players. I'm playing guard, he was shooting guard, and I think it throws off your game and your development and [to] become the great player if you try to imitate your game after someone because they're so good. And people are different. You rarely see people that play alike, but I really just thought that my game was good enough to be okay.

GS: What was the toughest adjustment between playing in college and playing in the NBA; what was the thing you had to learn?

DR: The toughest thing I had to learn was, the game is totally different. As a guard you come in the end, you have to learn defensive sets, offensive sets, and like, it's just totally different. The timing when you're supposed to foul someone, when you're supposed to call time outs, when you're supposed to take the game over. It's totally, like totally different from any type of game I ever played.

GS: You've had a storybook career so far. You've won state championships in high school and played in the championship game in NCAA, you got drafted by your hometown team. I'm wondering what's next for you? What are your goals for this year and beyond?

DR: Hopefully one day, [to win] a championship, [to win] many championships, playing to get an MVP award. I'm the type of person that [want] to win everything, no matter what it is, racing, whatever. I just want to win and I think that should put me in the right position to one day become a Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant, be mentioned with them people.

GS: And maybe one day get you on the cover of a full-fledged sports game?

DR: Yeah, I hope so. Hopefully it is coming.

GS: Thanks for your time Derrick.