Jalen Anthony Rose is a retired American professional basketball player and current sports analyst
with ESPN.
In college, he was a member of the University of Michigan Wolverines' "Fab Five" that reached
the 1992 and 1993 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship games as both Freshmen and Sophomores.
Rose played in the NBA for six teams, most notably alongside Reggie Miller on the Indiana
Pacers teams that made three consecutive Eastern Conference finals, including the 2000 NBA
Finals.
Rose currently serves as the official Ambassador and Spokesperson for the National Basketball
Retired Players Association.
Early years Rose's mother coined his given name from a
combination of his father's name, James, and his uncle's name, Leonard.
Rose's biological father Jimmy Walker was a former #1 overall pick who started in the
backcourt alongside Jerry West in the 1972 NBA All-Star Game.
Walker died in July, 2007 of lung cancer.
Although they eventually spoke several times over the phone, Rose never met his father
in person.
College career
As a star at Southwestern High School in Detroit, where he was teammates with future NBA players
Voshon Lenard and Howard Eisley, Rose obtained a high profile and can even be seen at a high
school All-American camp in the documentary film, Hoop Dreams.
Rose attended the University of Michigan where the Wolverines reached two NCAA Finals games
in 1992 and 1993, finishing as national runners up both times.
Rose was a part of Wolverines coach Steve Fisher's legendary 1991 recruiting class,
dubbed the "Fab Five".
He led the Fab Five in scoring his freshman year, averaging 19 points per game, and set
the school freshman scoring record with 597 total points.
Aside from being the most outspoken of the Fab Five, Rose was also their point guard
and leader.
During his career, he racked up over 1700 points, 400 rebounds, 400 assists, and 100
steals.
At 6-8 and playing as a versatile point guard, some reporters started comparing Rose to his
schoolboy idol Magic Johnson.
Of the players called before the grand jury in the University of Michigan basketball scandal,
Rose was the only one not listed as having received large amounts of money.
NBA career Rose played for six different NBA teams, forging
a solid pro career after skipping his senior season at Michigan.
He was selected 13th overall by the Denver Nuggets in the 1994 NBA Draft.
After two years with Denver, he was traded to the Indiana Pacers, along with Reggie Williams
and a future first round draft pick, for Mark Jackson, Ricky Pierce, and a 1st round draft
pick.
Over the course of his 14 year NBA career, Rose earned more than $100,000,000 in salary
compensation.
Despite his successes in Indiana, he was never readily accepted early on.
Rose frequently logged DNPCDs under Coach Larry Brown.
Rose also often spoke out about the fact he was being used as a backup two-guard and small
forward over his preference, which was point guard.
It was not until Larry Bird took over coaching duties did Rose finally begin to blossom,
eventually realizing he was most effective at small forward.
Rose's greatest moments as a pro occurred as a member of the Indiana Pacers, as he helped
the team get back on its feet after a disastrous 1996–97 season and make it to three consecutive
Eastern Conference Finals appearances.
Rose became the first player in eight years other than Reggie Miller to lead the Pacers
in scoring in the 1999–2000 season when he averaged 18.2 points per game for the eventual
Eastern Conference Champions.
After helping lead his team to the 2000 NBA Finals, Rose went on to average 25 points
per game in the six game series, including a 32-point effort in a game five win.
However, the Pacers lost the series to the Los Angeles Lakers.
During the 2001–02 season, Rose was traded to the Chicago Bulls along with Travis Best,
Norman Richardson, and a future second round draft pick in exchange for Brad Miller, Ron
Mercer, Ron Artest and Kevin Ollie.
After 16 games in the 2003–04 season, Rose was traded to the Toronto Raptors, along with
power forwards Donyell Marshall and Lonny Baxter.
Jalen Rose found moderate success with the Raptors, but the team soon decided to rebuild.
On February 3, 2006, midway through the 2005–06 season, he was traded, along with a first-round
draft pick, and an undisclosed sum of cash, to the New York Knicks for Antonio Davis,
where he was reunited with Larry Brown, his coach for one year with the Indiana Pacers.
The motivation behind this trade was apparently to free up cap space as well as for the Raptors
to acquire an experienced center who could relieve some of Chris Bosh's rebounding duties.
Rose's final game and contribution for the Raptors was a home win against the Sacramento
Kings, where he scored the winning basket in overtime.
Rose's tenure with the Knicks was uneventful and prior to the start of the 2006–07 NBA
season on October 30, 2006, the Knicks parted ways with Rose by waiving him.
He was courted by several teams including the Phoenix Suns, Detroit Pistons and Miami
Heat.
On November 3, 2006, Rose announced he would sign with the Suns on his blog at jalenrose.com.
On November 7, it was officially announced that Rose had signed a $1.5 million one-year
deal with Phoenix.
As a member of the Phoenix Suns, Rose did not play very many minutes.
The fast-paced Suns offense was too fast for the aging swingman and his knees became a
liability on defense.
Upon the Suns' elimination from the 2007 NBA Playoffs, he retired as an active player and
transitioned into a broadcasting career.
NBA career statistics Regular season
Playoffs Player profile
A left-handed player, Rose was known to have a smooth and versatile offensive game.
Jalen was particularly gifted as a scorer from the perimeter or the post.
Jalen was used throughout his career at three different positions.
He began his career as a point guard for the Denver Nuggets and became a shooting guard/small
forward for the Indiana Pacers.
He then returned to the point guard position briefly with the Toronto Raptors.
However, during his career he was most effective as a small forward or swingman.
Jalen was also a good passer, especially for his height, and Indiana often employed him
as a point forward.
Not known for his defense, Rose's best moment defensively came during the 1997–1998 season,
when Rose emerged as a defensive stopper on Michael Jordan in the Eastern Conference Finals,
though the Bulls pulled out the series in seven games.
Rose has sometimes been regarded as a team leader, particularly under head coach Larry
Bird, though he reportedly was a disruptive force in the Pacers' locker room during his
feud with the coach at that time Isiah Thomas, after Thomas cut former Fab Five teammate
Jimmy King on the final day to do so before the 2000–2001 season.
While he showed a willingness in Toronto to work harder than ever, Rose also frequently
clashed with Raptors coach Sam Mitchell, who benched a struggling Jalen early in the 2005–06
season in favor of rookie Joey Graham.
In the following months, Rose at least raised his play to a more acceptable level.
He increased his Player Efficiency Rating more than three whole points while averaging
12.1 points, 2.5 assists, and 2.8 rebounds per game.
However, he only shot 40.4% from the field and 27% from three-point range through 46
games.
Off the court Media figure and business interests
Rose first got broadcasting experience as a courtside reporter for TNT during the 2006
playoffs after the Knicks were eliminated.
Upon the Suns' elimination from the 2007 NBA Playoffs, he became a regular commentator
for ESPN giving regular insider perspective on the remaining playoff games from both a
player's and analyst's perspective.
Since 2007, Rose has worked at ESPN, first as an analyst on Sportscenter and in 2012
he became one of the hosts for NBA Countdown.
Rose and Bill Simmons replaced Chris Broussard and Jon Barry.
Rose has also worked on Simmons' website Grantland.com.
He cohosts "Jalen and Jacoby," a podcast posted on Grantland and YouTube, with David Jacoby
and, occasionally, Simmons.
Rose is the owner of Three Tier Entertainment, an independent, LA based management and production
company.
Created in 2007, Three Tier Entertainment is heavily involved in the development of
television and film projects and also manages talent including directors, actors and screenplay
writers.
The March 13, 2011 airing of the documentary The Fab Five, which Rose produced, sparked
controversy that led to a series of media exchanges between members of the press, Michigan
Wolverines men's basketball players and Duke Blue Devils men's basketball players in forums
such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.
National Basketball Retired Players Association In August of 2014, the National Basketball
Retired Players Association named Jalen Rose as their Ambassador and Spokesperson.
In this role, Rose shapes programs for former players while recruiting and enlisting the
help of younger NBA players.
Philanthropy Rose is also known for his philanthropic efforts.
He contributes to inner city youth by helping to build reading centers.
He has also given Dikembe Mutombo a cheque for $100,000 to help with the construction
of an operating room for the hospital Mutumbo built in the Congo.
In September 2011, the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy, founded by Jalen Rose and Michael
Carter, opened in Detroit.
It is an open enrollment public charter school.
The inaugural class consisted of 120 ninth graders.
The school has a partnership with the University of Detroit Mercy.
Students can take university courses when they become upperclassmen.
In recent years Rose has become a community activist and a contributing editor of the
Huffington Post.
Personal life In 2005, Rose earned a Bachelor of Science
in Management Studies from the University of Maryland University College.
Rose remains an active supporter of his alma mater, the University of Michigan, and was
seen rooting for their men's basketball team during the 2006 NIT Final Four with fellow
ex-Wolverine, Maurice Taylor.
See also List of National Basketball Association players
with most assists in a game References
External links Official Jalen Rose player profile at NBA.com
ESPN.com basketball-reference.com
basketballreference.com Jalen Rose - Official Website
SI.com Yahoo Sports
University of Michigan Basketball Statistical Archive
JalenTV Three Tier Entertainment
TheRoseBlog.com