Derrick Rose is the biggest name on the adidas basketball roster, and after the company signed the 2011 NBA MVP to an enormous, long-term endorsement deal this past February, the fact that he’s expected to miss the first half of the upcoming season due to injury was in no way going to stop the launch of his new signature basketball shoe, new logo and personalized apparel collection.
The unveiling event took place in Chicago last week, and as companies tend to do for these things, adidas spared no expense. Media were flown in from all over the world to attend, and Rose himself was there, along with his mother and three older brothers to celebrate the launch of the collection.
An event space in the South Loop neighborhood of Chicago was transformed into an adidas-branded shrine to Rose, complete with a stage, video screen setup, and oversized photos of Rose and his latest signature shoe, the D Rose 3. A room packed to capacity was treated to a presentation that lasted a little over 30 minutes, and included words from adidas Vice President of Global Basketball Lawrence Norman, designer Rob Lee, and Rose himself.
The launch did take a bit of an unexpected turn when Rose broke into tears while on stage, after one of the videos in “The Return” series was shown. Rose was overcome with emotion, and broke down for us what he was feeling as the gravity of his journey to get to this moment seemingly caught up to him all at once.
“It’s truly a blessing,” Rose said, while still choking back the tears. “With all of the stuff that’s going on in this city, a kid from Englewood has got something positive going on. That makes me feel so good. This shoe is great; all this is great. But I can’t explain this. I can’t. I went through so much. To have, like, true fans, that means a lot to me. And I know it means a lot to my family, because we’re not supposed to be here. At all. But God made the way.”
Things lightened up for Rose pretty quickly, as a kid who set up a fan web site devoted to Rose got to meet his favorite player. Rose immediately lit up with joy in talking to him, and said, “You can probably shoot better than me, then,” when the fan told Rose that the position he played was shooting guard.
Rose gave an update on where he is in the rehabilitation process before things wrapped up, saying he’s beginning to jump and working on strengthening his core more than ever before, and that he’s continuing to see improvement -- which obviously motivates him to work harder, and continue to push to get back on the court to do what he does best.
After the presentation, media were ushered into another building where the new shoes in both the home grey and the road black colorways were on display, along with everything in the brand new apparel collection.
Check out the slide show below for a great look at the new D Rose 3 signature shoe and apparel collection. The shoes launch in the two colorways pictured on October 4 for $160, with six additional colorways to be released before the end of the year.
[slideshow]
