After nearly being out of the league, Derrick Rose drops 50 points

Derrick Rose once appeared so close to being out of the league, but he wound up dropping 50 points on Halloween in an exhilarating performance.

It seemed like a fairly regular game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Utah Jazz on Oct. 31, Halloween night. Jimmy Butler wouldn’t play for reasons still fully unknown, but the matchup looked to be a competitive one between two of last season’s playoff participants.

Prior to Wednesday night’s matchup, Derrick Rose had been having a resurgent season of sorts, averaging 14.3 points and 4.9 assists per game and flashing his trademark quickness that makes everyone flashback to 2011 when the three-time All-Star became the youngest to ever win an MVP award at just 22 years old.

The beauty of the NBA — and sports in general — is that any night and any game has the chance to be something special, where history is made and fans witnessing both in the arena and on television thank the basketball gods they had the opportunity to witness such an event.

Against the Jazz, D-Rose would be as close to MVP form as he’s been in a long time, dropping a career-high 50 points on 19-of-31 shooting to go along with six rebounds and four assists, including multiple buckets down the stretch to help secure Minnesota’s 128-125 victory.

Whether you watched all 48 minutes of this game or the final seconds, it was a startling performance for a guy who many thought had little to nothing left following a buyout at the deadline last season by this same Jazz team.

Minnesota was his fourth spot in the span of just three seasons. He’s gone through multiple knee surgeries, only to make his way back onto the court every time. Most players would’ve thrown in the towel at that point, but Derrick Rose eventually worked his way onto Tom Thibodeau’s roster.

Watching D-Rose cry tears of happiness during the post-game interview, it was clear how much the performance meant to him. It was the culmination of more work than many will ever know.

Many doubted his ability to play at a high level, but Rose continued to put in the work and it showed in his performance Wednesday night.

The Wolves are kind of in shambles right now. Jimmy Butler still wants to be traded, Tom Thibodeau may be on the hot seat, and the team sits at a respectable but not great 4-4 to begin the new season. The details of the sexual assault accusations facing Rose are still extremely unsettling, and the appeal for that case will be heard this week.

To his unrelenting fans and those only focused on basketball, however, none of that mattered Wednesday. After so much work and rehab just to be able to step back onto the court, Rose put forth a performance neither he nor anyone with a decent internet connection will soon forget.