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K.C. Johnson: There are sooooo many teammates back for Derrick Rose. Luol Deng, Taj Gibson, Joakim Noah, Ben Gordon, Kyle Korver, Kurt Thomas, Brad Miller, Thabo Sefolosha, Tyrus Thomas, Richard Hamilton, Aaron Gray and more. And Tom Thibodeau is in the house as well. Kirk Hinrich, James Johnson, Drew Gooden too. Also saw Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner here
For Drew Gooden, though, it gives him an opportunity to prove to his 10-year-old son, Drew Gooden IV, that his dad actually does know a thing or two about playing with one of the greats. "I will be showing my son this box score," Gooden said with a laugh, adding that his son asks about James "all the time." "He'll say to me, 'Did you talk to LeBron? Do you know it's his birthday?'" Gooden continued. "He's a huge LeBron fan, and he's getting to the age now where he knows it's the truth, because there's data to back it up. "There's some historic nights I've been part of with him. But never did I think there would be a historic night where he scored single digits and I had 31."

Rose was unaware of his chess-playing peers until his NBA career finished. On Sunday, he had lined them up across the stage, paired with world-renowned grandmasters. Rajon Rondo was once one of his fiercest rivals. Rose and Tony Snell shared a locker room for three seasons. Drew Gooden was one of Chicago’s veterans during Rose’s rookie year; yet they never spoke a word about the game they all secretly loved.

Rose was unaware of his chess-playing peers until his NBA career finished. On Sunday, he had lined them up across the stage, paired with world-renowned grandmasters. Rajon Rondo was once one of his fiercest rivals. Rose and Tony Snell shared a locker room for three seasons. Drew Gooden was one of Chicago’s veterans during Rose’s rookie year; yet they never spoke a word about the game they all secretly loved. His vision was meant to play out at Madison Square Garden a couple years earlier. With patience, Rose’s ambition aligned with the Freestyle Chess Tour and the endeavors of its co-founders, Magnus Carlsen — the top-ranked player in the world — and Jan Henric Buettner.
Although he’s an avid online player, Rose doesn’t keep track of his rating. “I’m a baller,” he joked. “Get me on the board, I might win. I got a jankiness to my game.” Rose isn’t alone in his passion. Chess holds widespread popularity throughout the NBA — as evidenced by Sunday’s event, which featured current and former players such as Quinten Post and Tony Snell. But this shared passion also had a strange aura around it, almost cultish, as Rose described. For instance, former Bulls teammate Drew Gooden is an avid chess player, yet he never mentioned it while he shared a locker room with Rose. So why don’t NBA players talk about chess? “I have no idea,” Rose said with a laugh.
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Chris Miller: Jr. Wizards basketball camp at Georgetown Prep. Funny moment, one of the campers asked @DrewGooden if he played with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. 😂😂😂😂😂 pic.x.com/wEsrXgjDt3
Jr. Wizards basketball camp at Georgetown Prep. Funny moment, one of the campers asked @DrewGooden if he played with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. 😂😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/wEsrXgjDt3
— Chris Miller 🎥🎙🏀 (@CMillsPXP) June 17, 2025
Mike McGraw: Noah, Rose, Gooden & Wembanyama, from Joakim’s IG. #Bulls pic.twitter.com/1x5djUUAkT
Noah, Rose, Gooden & Wembanyama, from Joakim’s IG. #Bulls pic.twitter.com/1x5djUUAkT
— Mike McGraw (@McGrawDHSports) May 29, 2023
“I always think back to my rookie year throwing a jump hook in the post against Tim Duncan. That was different to throwing a jump hook in the post right now. Not only did I have to throw the jump hook over Tim Duncan, but David Robinson was on the weak side trying to block it, too. … So I think finishing around the rim is a lot easier now than it was when I was playing.” – Drew Gooden, who played 15 seasons for 10 teams, from 2002-15
"When I went to look at the box score I was like, 'Well, maybe I had a good game,'" Donyell Marshall, now an assistant with the G League's Greensboro Swarm and a forward on that 2006-07 Cavaliers team, told ESPN. "Then I looked at the box score and I was like, 'Well, I didn't do anything either.'" "If you'd asked me, 'Do you remember having 30-plus and LeBron being in single digits?' I would have expected to have some kind of memory of it," Drew Gooden, a former Cavaliers forward and now working as an analyst for Washington Wizards broadcasts, told ESPN with a laugh.
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Chase Hughes: According to @JustinKutcher and @Drew Gooden on the NBCSW broadcast, John Wall didn't seem to pay much attention to his tribute video from the Wizards. pic.twitter.com/BC15i0Dywx
According to @JustinKutcher and @DrewGooden on the NBCSW broadcast, John Wall didn't seem to pay much attention to his tribute video from the Wizards. pic.twitter.com/BC15i0Dywx
— Chase Hughes (@chasedcsports) February 16, 2021
Westbrook spent a good minute patiently waiting for the questions after the game, headphones and all. The crew was spitting out their questions, but their voices just weren’t going through. After a few moments of dead air (which felt like a decade), the point guard’s patience ran out. “Come on man, come on D,” the Wizards star said as he tried to call out anchor Drew Gooden, who was on the call (via Rob Perez on Twitter). “There’s a football game on, man.”

Former NBA player Drew Gooden compares LeBron James' championships to those of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Gooden also explains the main factor that contributed to Jordan's championships and how it sets him apart from LeBron James.
The happy-go-lucky forward from Richmond, Calif. is headed to the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame. Former KU forward Drew Gooden, who helped lead the Jayhawks to the 2002 Final Four while earning Consensus first team All-American honors that same season, is one of 10 members of the 2020 class who will be inducted in October, the KSHOF announced Wednesday.