Jalen Rose teared up while paying tribute to his late mother, Jeanne Rose, on his first Mother's Day without her.
Rose's co-hosts on "NBA Countdown" gave Jalen the floor to speak about his mother's life and legacy. He started out by saying, "This is the first time in my life that I didn’t have my mother or grandmother on Mother’s Day. It’s been tough, for me and my family, but I’m gonna be strong. I got a lot of people who rely on me, a lot of people who love me, lot of people who believe in me."
He then added, “We fell in love with basketball together. My father played in the league and to not know him… She was like, ‘You’re going to make it, you’re going to get us out the hood, I promise you.’ And I was like ‘I’m going to do it ma.’ And I did it. We did it.
"I used to sign ‘Dr. J’ as my autograph when I was little, and people was laughing at me and was teasing me,. And she was like ‘You’re gonna make it. You is Dr. J. But you ain’t never better than Magic (Johnson).’ That’s how she motivated me. … I’m just happy that the name Jalen is going to carry our legacy, carry her legacy."
Jalen spoke about his upbringing during his interview with VladTV, including finding his father, NBA player Jimmy Walker, but not being able to meet him before he passed away. You can catch the full interview here.
