Before Derrick Rose was a minimum-contract guard trying to resurrect his career with the Wolves … before he was undone by bad luck and worse knees … before all that, he was amazing.
He's still pretty good, mind you — better for the Wolves than I ever thought he'd be when they brought him in near the end of last season — but in case you forgot there was a time when he was arguably the hardest person in the NBA to guard.
So on Thursday, Rose's 30th birthday, NBA.com put together a highlight video of the top 30 plays of Rose's career.
These memories are likely seared into Tom Thibodeau's brain since many of them happened when the two were together in Chicago — which probably helps explain why Thibs is so eager to recapture even some of that magic in Minnesota.
The man was a league MVP, after all.
Read Michael Rand's blog at startribune.com/randball. michael.rand@startribune.com.
