Derrick Rose told ESPN yesterday that when Miami Heat forward LeBron James was a free agent last summer, Rose tried to recruit him to join his Bulls squad via text message.
"I'm just hitting you up to kill all the rumors that I don't want to play with you," Rose reportedly texted James. "I'd like to play with you. I just want to win."
It's not hard to see why James picked Miami. Heat President Pat Riley completely outsold Rose. After James' Decision to join the Heat, Riley said he told James, "LeBron would be Magic Johnson, Dwyane Wade would be Kobe Bryant, Chris [Bosh] would be Kevin Garnett."
If Riley and Rose were characters in "Glengarry Glen Ross," Riles would be Alec Baldwin's slick alpha dog Blake, while Rose would be Jack Lemmon's sad sack Shelley.
Of course, while it's fun to laugh at Rose's earnest but naive thought that he could sway LeBron with a text message, he's had the last laugh so far, as the Heat have yet to defeat the Bulls this season. They get their last regular season crack at the Bulls on Sunday afternoon.
David Hill is a Miami native and the former owner of a youth replica Rony Seikaly jersey.
