Derrick Rose Still Keeps the Common Touch

" Back in the '90s, Charles Barkley proclaimed that just because he was an NBA superstar, he wasn’t a role a model and didn’t want the responsibility of raising other people’s kids. But almost 20 years later, Derrick Rose is a different kind of NBA superstar.

Rose’s importance to the city of Chicago isn’t lost on him. At just 24-years-old, he has a clear understanding that there are lot of people – particularly kids – who look up to him and he embraces the enormous pressure of trying to make those in his city proud, saying as much in a recent interview with ESPN.

“I know people in Chicago follow everything that I do,” said Rose to ESPN’s Rachel Nichols. “I try to stay clean, but I’m not perfect at all. I’m just like everyone else. But for these kids’ sake, I’m just going to try to stay positive.”

Coming from Englewood, a Chicago neighborhood ravaged by poverty and violence, Derrick still feels the connection to a lot of kids in his old neighborhood and those who grew up in similar situations all over the city "

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