The Official Site of Derrick Rose

Fri, Nov 14th 2008, 09:15

Wilson's Wave of the Future

And just like that, Derrick Rose’s name gets spoken in the same sentence as the NFL’s Tom Brady, Olympic gold medalist volleyballer Kerri Walsh, Tennis U.S. Open champs Roger Federer, Serena Williams and Venus Williams, and the MLB’s David Wright.

That’s a prestigious crew, and Rose has Chicago-based sports equipment company Wilson to thank for giving him something in common with such a fine list of sports legends.

“It’s amazing to be in the same category with those guys,” says Rose, raising his eyebrows in gratitude and disbelief. “I hope I live up to those expectations. It was enough for me just to get into the NBA, but to get an endorsement from Wilson… man… it’s amazing. This opportunity can help me grow, and hopefully I can help them grow, too.”

In signing an endorsement deal with Wilson, the Chicago Bulls’ star rookie becomes the company’s official NBA spokesman, but there’s much more to this deal than just Rose pushing products. When he says he wants to help the company grow, he’s not kidding. In fact, that’s part of the deal.

“When you have a person like Derrick Rose on your staff, you can put him in a position to know Wilson products in a closer manner,” says Wilson’s Global Business Director Alan Davenport. “The idea is that he gets to know our products so that when we come up with upgrades our changes to our products he can tell us if we’re on the right track or not.”

Remembering some of the issues Spalding had with their new synthetic NBA game ball a few years back, bringing on an NBA player to the Wilson Advisory Staff seems like a really good idea.

“Who better than professional athletes
to let us know what works in a product?” says Davenport. “You know, Knute Rockne helped us design the first football with a lace in it.”

Rose might not invent the next laced football, but he’s looking forward to this new opportunity. “I hope I can help,” he admits. “I’m young. I know what young people like, what looks good, and that sort of thing. I look forward to working with the products because most players want to get involved, and I’m one of those types of players.”

One product Wilson is planning on pushing into the mainstream with Rose’s help is their Wave ball, which only Davenport could fully explain:

“The Wave takes the traditional basketball with its eight panels and those channels on it where players grip the ball—to get good rotation when you shoot, leverage when you’re dribbling—and we’ve added 24 additional channels on the panels of the ball. Anywhere you grab the ball your fingers fall into one of those channels, meaning you can have a quick release on your shot, more catch when you’re dribbling because your fingers slip into those seems, and even just grabbing a rebound it gives you more grip. The ball actually feels slightly smaller in your hands.”

“I don’t know if the NBA will be using it,” jokes Rose, “but it’s a cool ball.”

Wilson is planning on launching a Derrick Rose signature version of the ball in the coming year, and Davenport said they’re working on a logo for Rose right now. The most recent #1 overall pick is just elated with the whole process.

“My initials or my signature will be on there,” he explains. “All my nieces and nephews will have one, and hopefully all the kids around the world will have one.”

He may have a long way to go to achieve the sorts of professional achievements of Wilson’s other star athletes, but at the very least this is good for Rose and for Wilson’s products. When both sides are this excited over a deal it’s clear that fantastic things are yet to come.

Hopefully the Wave of the future is what both parties expect it to be.

By Joel Brigham – Hoopsworld.com