Derrick Rose may no longer be a member of the Chicago Bulls organization, but he will forever keep the Windy City with him. Rose will wear number 25 for the New York Knicks. Rose will be the 13th Knick to do so, and he has good reason.
Rose is wearing the number in honor of slain Chicago prep basketball star Benji Wilson.
Wilson also happened to attend Rose’s alma mater Simeon High School.
Wilson was Chicago’s golden child in the early 1980s. Chicago will forever remember the year 1984. It was this year that the Simeon High School student earned his number one basketball player in the nation honor, a Chicago Public League City Championship and an Illinois High School Association state championship. It was also the year the 6’7” guard/forward would meet his demise. Wilson was gunned down after a confrontation with two alleged gang members just two days before he would begin his senior year in high school.
ESPN aired a powerful 30 for 30 documentary piece titled “Benji: The True Story of a Dream Cut Short.” Watch below.
