“Cash, money, cars, clothes, this is how true ballers roll”. These are the lyrics from Ruff Endz’s 2002 hit R’n'B single – one of my favourite tracks back in high school.

According to urbandictionary.com (great source, right?), the term ‘baller’ refers to “A thug that has “made it” to the big time or professional ball (basketball, football, baseball etc.) players that made it out of the streets to make millions as a professional ball player”.

Now, as sports fans we live in a world where the elite athletes in their respective sports get paid an exuberant amount of cash. You’ve got the likes of Tiger Woods, Kobe Byrant and LeBron James each earning in the tens of millions each year.

It’s made me wonder at times, whether or not these athletes are some what detached from the fans of the game. Do they still play for the love of the game and its fans or do they play for the green?

In recent years the NBA has seen some of its brightest stars such as Josh Childress cross the Atlantic for a stint in the European Leagues for a bigger payday and less taxes. I personally don’t quite understand why an athlete would rather chase money than test himself in the best league in the world. We’ve also seen it happen here domestically with the defection of Karmichael Hunt, Israel Folau and SBW to other footballing codes.

You’ve then got Miami Heat Superstar and part owner of Liverpool F.C LeBron James publically claim “The first time I stepped on an NBA court I became a businessman”. Really? I would have thought you became a professional basketball player living his dream.

In saying all this though, I’m not against sporting superstars making the dosh and I fully understand their motives to go out and brand themselves but I guess it’s legitimate to ask what truly motivates and drives today’s athletes. Championships or money? Fans or brand recognition?

Last week, Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose, at 22 years of age, become the youngest Most Valuable Player in the history of the league. Yesterday, he lead the Chicago Bulls to one game away from the Eastern Conference Finals. As a Chicago Bulls fan from the days of Michael Jordan, I couldn’t have been any happier for him. Some of you reading this may have not seen or have even heard of him before but from what I’ve see on T.V and from what I’ve read he’s very much a shy person who never attracts any unnecessary attention – a far cry from the bravado displaying, harlem hoodlum suit wearing ballers from Miami and Boston.

A lot of reporters were anticipating an underwhelming acceptance speech from Rose due to his quiet persona. Please watch the footage below (his speech starts at 2:44).

As you can see a very humble and mature human being with awesome talent to boot, worthy of being recognised as the NBA’s most valuable player. His speech showed me that there are athletes who still love and play the game for what it is and that improving and playing the game as hard as you can is what drives them to levels only few can reach, whilst not forgetting his roots and how he got there.