Dear Summer: Derrick Rose

How the MVP spent his offseason.

With or without a lockout, it’s undeniable that the summer of 2011 featured plenty of incredible basketball moments. NBA players traveled the world, participated in streetball games and charity events, acted in movies and television shows, took up new hobbies and plenty more, all to enjoy themselves, promote their brands and take their minds off the messy labor negotiations that have clouded the League’s otherwise bright future. Our “Dear Summer” series will be providing video/photo galleries of all of your favorite players’ offseasons, allowing you the opportunity to check out (almost) everything they’ve been up to since the ’10-11 season ended, all in one place. Up next: The League’s reigning MVP, Derrick Rose.

by Abe Schwadron / @abe_squad

For Derrick Rose, it’s never been about being flashy. But when you’re the youngest-ever MVP in League history, it’s hard to go unnoticed. And while DRose hasn’t been a summer streetball warrior like some of his superstar counterparts over the past few months, he’s been busy. Busy taking his adidas brand to the Far East, and coming home to Chicago to renovate his childhood playground courts. Busy creating a buzz for his new sneaker, the adiZero Rose 2, and plotting a takover of the Eastern Conference in ’11-12.

Could he dominate the summer pick-up scene? Sure. Any hoops fan would salivate at the thought of seeing Rose throw down his patented tomahawk jam at a Goodman League game, or a charity game packed with NBA stars. Come on—he’s the MVP! But let’s cut the kid a break. You’d need a vacation, too, if you came off a 97-game season carrying a young Bulls team to the ECF, dropping 27.1 points and 7.7 assists per along the way. A vacation that includes, based on our documentation above, playing one-on-one with foreign pop stars, taking on bull fighters with a basketball and, yes, hand puppets. Enjoy and happy 23rd birthday, Derrick!