Rose: What are you willing to sacrifice?

Derrick Rose, the youngest Most Valuable Player (MVP) in National Basketball Association (NBA) history, has an important question to Filipinos who are dreaming of playing in the NBA.

“What are you willing to sacrifice? You’re not going to get your dreams by just doing what you want,” he asked during the “Rose Above the Odds” event on rainy Thursday afternoon in Makati City.

“Are you willing to give up partying, girls, etcetera? You have to make a move to get closer to your dreams.”

Rose has the credibility to challenge Filipino dreamers.

Taken with the top overall pick by his home team – the Chicago Bulls — in 2008, Rose soared on top of the NBA as its youngest ever MVP at 22 years old in 2011.

He, however, tore his anterior cruciate ligament the following year, kicking off years of frustrations that brought him to teams like the New York Knicks, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Detroit Pistons and the Memphis Grizzlies.

Now, he’s no longer the same explosive player again, but he is generous enough to share his wisdom to countless young stars who are dreaming of playing in the NBA someday like Kai Sotto, Kevin Quiambao and, lately, Kieffer Alas.

Rose admitted that he was just an average player in high school. And being below 6-foot-3, he has to work his way up until scouts, coaches and talent evaluators took notice, paving the way for him to land an athletic scholarship at University of Memphis, where he blossomed into one of the best playmakers of his generation.

That’s why during the event organized by ArenaPlus, Rose kept on preaching that there’s no shortcut to success. Instead, the only way to get “there” is through hard work, discipline, sacrifices and good attitude.

“I had to learn discipline at an early age. It’s something I kept with me on and off the court,” Rose said.

“With discipline, it teaches you how to be a man. I evolved into the man I am right now by having the discipline, the sacrifices and making the hard moves.”