Derrick Rose point blank reminds me of Michael Jordan. It's taken a while but I'm now a believer. I've never been higher on his game than I am right now.
I don't see the similarities beyond the uniform, durability, and ability to score inside or out against double teams. Rose is a humble sort, while Jordan trash talked (and backed it up!) all the time. Jordan was a much better scorer, defender, rebounder, and even passer.
The question specifies "in the way he motivates himself." I like that Derrick seems to "never forget" a mistake or humiliation, and then use that to push himself to overcome it the next time. He's been amazing at that, really. To be honest, I don't know that even MJ was so aware of his limitations (the humility factor). He was more concerned about perceived insults. Derrick just seems to be very critically aware of ways he needs to be better.
Rose reminds me of Jordan and Kobe in that they both have that maniacal will to constantly improve their games and win.
I see it I feel the core of their basketball being is the same. Make no mistake Rose is a stone cold competitor. He wants to eat your lunch, craves the challenge, and feeds off it. The difference is is the outward manifestation of their persona which I believe masks just how similar they are. When Jordan first came into the league he had a cockiness about him but he was largely marketed as a married family man, solid middle class values and everyone wanted to "be like Mike". A combination of the outrageous success he achieved matched by the outrageous media profile that accompanied it as the torch was passed from Magic/Bird as the league's headline attraction, revealed the flaws in his individual character as a human being. So Mike was human off the court but so long as he was superhuman on the court we all looked past the other stuff. A rampant ego however is a sign of ill discipline and whilst this ego drove Jordan on the court he never learned how to really win big until he could find it within himself to let others in. Interestingly with Rose he had to learn how to be less deferential because of his natural hardwiring in a humble roundedness and a basic respect for others around him. This season he has learned to trust his greatness and that it is ok to allow himself to be great and he has taken off into a different place. Same core of motivation but they arrived at their greatness from different paths
