Derrick Rose hasn’t been able to play with LeBron James much on the Cleveland Cavaliers this season due to the ankle injury which has kept him out since November. But after taking time off from the team following his injury, Rose is back with the team and has been around LeBron a lot more often.
Rose tells The Undefeated’s Marc J. Spears that being around LeBron James on a daily basis has given him an appreciation of James’ greatness, which people have now overlooked because of how easy James makes it seem.
Q: What’s the best part of being around LeBron every day?
A: Learning. A lot of people overlook or don’t take it serious when he dominates the game. They are used to him dominating the game. Every game you see him score 32 points, have a triple-double, and he rarely breaks a sweat. A lot of people overlook that. That’s greatness. He makes it look easy.
When your [teammates] look better or the game looks easy because of how hard you work, that is greatness, I believe. A lot of people overlook that.
It’s a testament to how great LeBron James has been for so long that people are seemingly taking his achievements for granted. The fact that he’s playing arguably his best basketball in his 15th NBA season is a remarkable feat. But because it’s LeBron, people don’t seem to appreciate the gravity of what he’s doing.
It takes tremendous work and dedication to still be dominating the league 15 years into one’s career while making it seem so effortless. This year, Rose is seeing firsthand that James puts in the work in order to be great, and he’s right to point out that it should be acknowledged a lot more than it has been.