Rumors

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.

New York Times

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.

New York Times

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.

Chicago Tribune

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

Twitter

Mike McGraw: Noah, Rose, Gooden & Wembanyama, from Joakim’s IG. #Bulls pic.twitter.com/1x5djUUAkT

Twitter

“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

The Athletic

"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.

ESPN

Drew Gooden: I told you that these fans are assaulting players. Thank you for listening.

Twitter

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

Twitter

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.”

Clutch Points

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.

NBC Sports

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.

m.kusports.com

“I played with Brandon Jennings, Monte Ellis, Drew Gooden, Keyon Dooling, Andrew Bogut and I had great teammates,” said Sanders. “The fans are dope in Milwaukee and they are longtime fans. It was good to be a part of that community and they really took me in. I felt like I was really a part of the Milwaukee community. There was always a Larry chant. It really felt like I was coming to see my people every day. It was good.”

CBS Chicago

As Drew Gooden reached his 10th year in the NBA, he realized he wasn’t making money outside the sport. During the four years following that, Gooden continued to play in the league, rebuilding his off-the-court career to support his post-career life. Gooden went with an industry he knew well: restaurants. Specifically, chicken wings and the quick-service restaurant, Wingstop.

FrntOfficeSport.com