A wilted Rose looks to reclaim his MVP stature

Published October 9, 2013 at 11:07 am

Image is everything, and in the sports world, the best image an athlete can have is a winning one. But, what happens when your fans turn against you, and you hear “boos” in your home stadium?

That’s what happened to Chicago Bulls young phenom Derrick Rose. In his breakthrough NBA season two years ago, Rose was named Most Valuable Player and was on the fast track to lead the Bulls to a championship. Then, he tore his ACL.

What happened next is part of the double-edged sword that is social media and round-the-clock news coverage.

Rose’s teammates knew he had to recover. Many Chicago fans did too. However, there were just enough who saw him sitting on the sidelines and thought that it had been long enough. It didn’t help that Rose was part of an Adidas campaign called #thereturn on Twitter. It featured Rose returning to the game. And … he wasn’t.

As this season begins, fans are already lining up to give their opinion about Rose.

“Rose needs to show improvement, particularly in the areas he’s been criticized for, if he wants to silence his critics,” explained a Bleacher Report article. “Specifically, that means he needs to raise his assist numbers and field-goal percentage, even if it means cutting down on his scoring.”

Fans love winners.

LeBron James rose above his haters by winning two championship rings—proving that leaving Cleveland, despite the jerseys burned in his wake, was the right move for him.

Even those outside of basketball can make viewers think twice, as Miley Cyrus proved this last week with her hosting Saturday Night Live and performing stripped down versions of her chart-topping hits “We Can’t Stop” and “Wrecking Ball.”

Will Derrick Rose make Bulls fans think twice? The jury is still out, but one thing is for sure in this digital age: One mistake could be hashtagged and retweeted forever, damaging your reputation for good.

At least until you find a way to grab the bull by the horns and tip the ball in your favor once again.