NBA – Team USA gold-medal winner Rose blooms into MVP [video]

CHICAGO (NBA) - When Derrick Rose is named as the NBA's Most Valuable Player later on Tuesday in Chicago, the Bulls point guard will no doubt reflect on a brilliant summer of 2010 that saw him help Team USA win a gold medal at the FIBA World Championship.

Rose was among the talented Americans who went unbeaten in Turkey and earned the country its first world title since 1994 in Toronto.

Just as Kobe Bryant and LeBron James carried the momentum of their gold-medal runs at the 2008 Beijing Games into terrific seasons with their NBA teams, so has Rose.

The Chicago native had enjoyed the experience of playing for coach Mike Krzyzewski and a humble-but-hungry Team USA so much that he dreamed of keeping the group together for even longer.

"Sometimes I wish that this could be my regular team because it’s so easy," Rose said after the title win in Istanbul.

"But, got to go back to reality.”

As it turns out, reality hasn’t been so bad, either.

Playing for the 2010-11 NBA Coach of the Year, Tom Thibodeau, Rose was the spark for a Bulls team that finished with the best regular-season record (62-20) in the league.

The top overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft averaged 25 points, 7.7 assists and 4.1 rebounds in his third season.

Once confirmed as the MVP, the 22-year-old Rose will be the youngest player ever to claim the honor.

Former center Wes Unseld, who was 23 at the time, was named both Rookie of the Year and MVP of the 1968-69 season with the Baltimore Bullets.

Rose is also the first Bull to capture the award since Michael Jordan, who was named MVP for the fifth and last time in 1998.

As good as Rose has been this season, he has also been reminded of how difficult it is to win an NBA crown.

James, who was named MVP the previous two seasons, wasn't able to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to the title and Rose, after leading the Bulls to a hard-fought 4-1 first-round series triumph over Indiana, wasn't able to fire his team to victory over Atlanta on Monday in Game 1 of their semi-final series.

Check out Rose's highlights from his time representing the USA last summer

And here are his top plays of the 2010-11 NBA regular season

FIBA