Sneed: Rose is more to Chicago than a basketball star

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Darius Brown was a big Derrick Rose fan, and was buried with an autographed Rose jersey. | Provided photo

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A Rose is a rose is a rose . . . 

He showed up.

Chicago lost more than a basketball player when the Bulls decided to send Derrick Rose to the New York Knicks last week.

“We lost a hometown guy whose home court was not limited to the United Center,” said the Rev. Michael Pfleger.

“He was there for the brothers on the block, there for the guys who played in St. Sabina’s peace basketball games to end violence in the city. He showed up when he was needed. That’s what counted.”

Rose, who was raised in his grandmother’s house in Englewood, was also there for the family of Darius Brown, 13, an innocent bystander gunned down while playing neighborhood basketball in 2011 at Metcalfe Park in Bronzeville.

OPINION

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“I buried my son in a white Derrick Rose jersey with red lettering and stitching,” said Brown’s mother, Stephanie.

“Rose couldn’t come to the funeral at Holy Angels Catholic Church, so he sent his brother, Reggie, with the jersey signed with his autograph.

“He idolized Derrick,” she said.

“So I took the jersey and I laid it on top of Darius and he was buried with it.”

“He shared the same position as Rose, point guard, and had the same stature, not super big, he was a smaller kid. But he was fast, and quick and super competitive.

“But Bay-Bay was too little for that bullet. It just ripped right through his body,” Stephanie said.

“It was so kind of Rose to take the time out and to think of my son. Like that meant everything. Darius would have loved that jersey.”

“It made the day a bit easier for me and my family to put Darius to rest,” she said.

Rose, who has “Chicago” tattooed on his wrist, is now trying to put his mind around living in New York and playing for the Knicks.

“I’ve carried Chicago with me everywhere I’ve gone,” Rose shared in a farewell letter to his hometown Friday.

Back at you, D. Rose.

The Lucas Museum . . . 

Chicago’s loss of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art can be described in one word . . . repeated as many times as you like.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Museum nauseam . . .

Sneed hears “Star Wars” filmmaker George Lucas and his wife, Mellody Hobson, who had hoped to locate the museum on Chicago’s lakefront — held out little hope for a last-ditch effort weeks ago to push a restart button on the Lucas project by a contentious group of Friends of the Parks board members.

While Lucas was in China on business, Sneed tipped June 15 that California was back on the Lucas drawing board.

Now in Europe, Lucas — who closed the window on the small Chicago portal Friday — is expecting competitive bids to be delivered this week for museum sites in San Francisco, the filmmaker’s hometown, and Los Angeles, where Lucas went to school.

As this column reported June 10, Lucas was anxious to get the matter resolved. As a self-described “child of the 60s,” Lucas, 72, felt time was of the essence to forge ahead with his legacy — and wanted to get things done.

Will & Kate . . . 

A Brexit break: Prince William poked a bit of Brit fun at his wife Kate’s culinary skills before the Brexit exit after she chirped her hubby was looking forward to a break from her cooking. “It’s the reason I’m skinny,” he joked.

Haha . . . oh, well.

Toss the tilapia, please.

I spy . . . 

Kyle Schwarber and his famous shattered windshield. | Provided photo

Kyle Schwarber and his famous shattered windshield. | Provided photo

The Bulls’ Jimmy Butler getting the nah nah nah from kids while putting veggies on their pizzas at Blaze on West Belmont Avenue on Tuesday. Butler’s planned, but surprise entry through the eatery’s back door drew happy yelps from the BAM (Building a Better Man) youth group. . . . Chicago eatery titans Bill “Carnivale” Marovitz, Richard Melman, R.J. Melman, Jerrod Melman, Molly Melman, Bill and Giuliana Rancic in Washington, D.C., putting the finishing touches on the new RPM eatery opening Monday night. . . . Comedian Marlon Wayans spotted dining at Lux Bar last Saturday. . . . Hall of Fame Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz at Gibsons Steakhouse last Sunday night. . . . Check out pic of injured Chicago Cubs star Kyle Schwarber being snapped next to his famous shattered windshield on exhibit at Harry Caray’s Italian Steakhouse last week.

Sneedlings . . . 

A belated shoutout to Chicago attorney Enrico Mirabelli, who was treated to a “surprise” 60th birthday party Friday night at the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame. Some surprise location, huh? . . . Saturday’s birthdays: June Lockhart, 91; La La Anthony, 37; and George Michael, 53. . . . Sunday’s birthdays: Ariana Grande, 23; Derek Jeter, 42; and Oak Park native and 2016 NBA champ, Iman Shumpert, 26.

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