When Derrick Rose was back on the Bulls, at the peak of his career in 2011, there was a point where many people thought he needed another star. Someone to help him push through the East and reach the NBA Finals. However, his apparent reluctance to recruit led to many stars going elsewhere that wasn't Chicago.
At least that's what everybody thought. Rose, who is now playing with the Cleveland Cavaliers, told reporters recently that he did in fact make recruitment videos for LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh during their free agency period. Those three ended up going to Miami and forming a superteam, but he isn't sure if they ever saw the video.
"Yeah, yeah, I tried too,'' Rose said. "Like people always said I didn't recruit. I tried to recruit. I put out a video but it wasn't for me to say that. I felt like the [Bulls] organization was supposed to say that and they didn't. I put out a video for him [Wade], Chris Bosh and LeBron.''
He was then asked if the organization even sent it out for him, and responded, "I mean it ain't for me to say that, but yeah, they didn't say anything about it. They sent it. I don't know if they really actually looked at it or played the video, but I made a video. At the time it wasn't for me to say that.''
It's strange to hear Rose say that he tried to recruit players, while he was in Chicago, when the reputation around him was that he wasn't someone that went out seeking help. However, the reason everybody thought that about Rose was because he said he doesn't recruit players back in 2011.
"I'm fine with my teammates," Rose said Thursday. "If they choose to [go after another scorer] that's up to them. But my teammates that I have right now, I'm fine with them."
via ESPN
And then said as much again back in 2014 when Carmelo Anthony was reportedly interested in the Bulls.
Rose told Yahoo Sports on Sunday that he doesn't plan to recruit Anthony – or any free agent, for that matter – even though he likes Anthony's game and thinks they can play alongside each other.
Rose's reason is simple: He said it's "not my job."
"My thing is if they want to come, they can come," Rose said.
Rose has always shied away from publicly admitting he wanted to recruit teammates, but now that he's on a new team in a smaller role he seems more open to talking about bringing in star teammates. So does this mean he's actually been recruiting players his entire career, or did he just choose not to after unsuccessfully bringing in James, Wade, and Bosh?
