Rose, youngest MVP in NBA, calls it a day

MANILA, Philippines — American basketball player Derrick Rose, the youngest ever NBA star to win the Most Valuable Player award, announced his retirement Thursday after 16 seasons.

The 35-year-old former Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks point guard posted a photo of himself on Instagram sitting in front of a chess set and holding a newspaper with a love letter to basketball.

In the social media message posted, Rose said basketball had been his “first love.”

“You introduced me to new places and cultures that a kid from Chicago could have never imagined. You taught me that every loss was a lesson and every win was a reason to be grateful,” he wrote. 

Rose also took out full-page advertisements in all the cities where he had played for the local team – Chicago, New York, Detroit, Cleveland, Minneapolis and Memphis – to thank each group of fans.

The 6-foot, 2-inch (1.91m) player became the youngest MVP in NBA history, aged 22 years, in 2010-11, when he averaged 25.0 points and 7.7 assists per game as the Bulls made a run to the Eastern Conference finals.