With the regular season over, the NBA will soon decide who will win the league's Most Valuable Player, and Derrick Rose is the heavy favorite to win it.
A panel of ESPN writers made him the overwhelming choice, and he has been the front-runner among NBA.com writers for much of the season.
Logic would suggest that he'll get to raise the MVP trophy soon, making him the first Bull to win the MVP since Michael Jordan in 1998.
But the award is subjective and voted on by media who have their own biases. There's no guarantee that Rose will get the award, even if he is the most deserving, and that's OK.
Nothing that a group of voters say will take away what Derrick Rose did this season. It won't erase the highlight reel. It won't take back the breathtaking, under-the-hoop moves. It won't remove the 25.5 points he averaged. It won't mean that this 22-year-old didn't set the city on fire with his spectacular play and quiet confidence.
As nice as an individual award is, it won't bring Rose any closer to winning a championship. In fact, the MVP hasn't won the NBA Finals since 2002, when Tim Duncan raised both trophies.
If Rose wins, he is incredibly deserving, and if he doesn't, he'll still be the same player that made this city love basketball again.
*Maggie Hendricks is a Chicago-based sports writer who spends most of her time writing witty, informative posts for NBCChicago's Bears blog Grizzly Detail. She's taken her talents to basketball while the Bears hibernate.
