Not that Chicagoans had reason to worry that, after spending 22 of his 23 years in the Windy City (minus one season, less than a full 12 months in Memphis for college), but Derrick Rose will remain in his hometown for at least the next five years.
Rose agreed to a five-year, 94-million contract extension with the Bulls, as first reported by the Chicago Tribune, and will announce the move at a Wednesday-morning press conference.
After first playing coy--he queried, "Who said that?" in initial response to reporters asking about the deal--Rose acknowledged his newfound wealth.
"It's something big, but I think I want to talk more about it tomorrow with my family and everybody being there. But it's definitely something big," he said politely before, in his typical nature, going on to answer more questions. "I never was really thinking about it. I don't think about money when it comes to that, me signing contracts or anything. The Bulls are loyal, they're loyal with me, showed they trusted me just by picking me to come here. I just feel blessed and I'm just happy that I'm here.
"I don't think about anything else, no money or anything. I just know if I keep working hard, keep treating people the right way, good things are going to happen to me," he continued. "I think I live a humble life. Of course, I know I'll be able to afford whatever I want, but other than that, there's not too many things that excite me. So, me winning is one of the things and the other is me being able to help my family. Money, that's the last thing that I think about."
Rose later said that he feels "no pressure at all" from the deal, the terms of which were made possible by the "Derrick Rose rule" provision in the new collective bargaining agreement, designed to reward players on their rookie-scale contracts for reaching certain benchmarks, such as being the youngest MVP in league history.
But if any hubris exists within Rose for his accomplishments, it's not evident in his demeanor, as he quietly apologized to the gaggle of reporters surrounding his locker for making them clear a path so he could finish dressing before being interviewed.
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Indeed, as Rose said himself, "My mom raised me right."
His teammates graciously acknowledged their young leader's well-earned marker of success.
"I wish the contract was for 10 years," said Carlos Boozer.
Added Luol Deng, who's watched Rose's growth and development firsthand since the reigning league MVP's rookie season: "It's great, man. He deserves it and it's good to see. He put in a lot of work and he's great for this organization, for this team, this city. So, I'm glad that's how it went."
So is the rest of Chicago, if not the rest of the NBA.