Derrick Rose is the total package

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

On the court, he might fly around like Superman. But off the court, Derrick Rose is more like Clark Kent.

Take the time he suffered a cut over his right eye in college and headed to the locker room before balking at the prescribed treatment, citing his Kryptonite-like fear of needles.

‘‘They said I needed four stitches, but it probably would have been five,’’ said Rose, who held out for four time-consuming coats of glue. ‘‘I felt like they were trying to trick me.’’

Never mind that Memphis was destroying Michigan State in the Sweet 16 of the 2008 NCAA tournament. Coach John Calipari wanted his star freshman back — and who could blame him? Rose was three months from being selected No. 1 overall in the NBA draft by the Bulls.

‘‘He’s not real good with needles,’’ Calipari said. ‘‘The glue was taking so long, I was ready to leave the court and run up and get him myself.’’

Strangely, Rose doesn’t mind the needles used for his many tattoos because ‘‘you really don’t see the needles.’’

Early in his Bulls career, he suffered through 10 stitches after cutting his arm when he forgot he had left a knife on his bed.

And then, of course, there was his recent bout with ulcers, which was attributed to his fondness for spicy food.

So, you see, he’s only Superman-like when he’s wearing a jersey adorned with the No. 1.

His wide-ranging abilities on a basketball floor are well-documented. The linchpin for a Bulls team that has risen to third in the Eastern Conference, Rose is receiving his due at the All-Star Game, where he will make his first start tonight in Los Angeles.

What initially caught the Bulls’ eye was not only his ability to defy gravity on the court but the way he kept both feet on the ground off the court. For all his basketball skill, the organization also was impressed with Rose’s unassuming maturity.

‘‘We can all sit here and say we knew, but you never know,’’ Bulls executive vice president John Paxson said. ‘‘The sense with Derrick always was that he was humble and that he understood what it would take to be a great player, and he’s never deviated from that.’’

Even though Rose, who’s still only 22, spent only one year in college, Paxson felt that vibe from the outset.

‘‘I remember the first time we had a chance to sit down with him, he didn’t come across as a lot of the young guys do today ­— of feeling entitled,’’ Paxson said. ‘‘He understood that he’d have to work to be good. He’s a unique player, but he’s a unique person, too, for this generation of young person. I never see Derrick getting too full of himself.

‘‘He gets it.’’

Wary of Facebook

Rose is so grounded that he doesn’t understand why people would expect him not to be humble and unassuming. Asked how he has dealt with the sudden wealth of a reported four-year, $22.5 million contract, the South Side native merely shrugged.

‘‘What money?’’ he said. ‘‘If anything, I live a regular life. I have a three-bedroom townhouse. I drive a pickup truck. I’ve got my college friends that live with me. They’re still in college.

‘‘There’s nothing spectacular about my life. I guess that’s the reason why I’m so grounded, so humble. I don’t think I’m any better than anyone just because I can shoot a ball. I live a regular life.’’

By all appearances, this is a young man who’s heeding good advice on and off the court. He drives a white Ford F-450 pickup. He lives in the northern suburbs, a short drive from the Berto Center, the Bulls’ practice facility in Deerfield.

And although the listing for his Facebook page Friday said, ‘‘1,610,079 people like this,’’ Rose isn’t so sure he likes social networks back.

‘‘I don’t tweet or Facebook,’’ he said. ‘‘I don’t like telling people what I’m doing. I have a Facebook fan page, that’s the only thing. My agency started it. I post stuff up there.’’

Rose does text, including eagerly receiving game updates from a coach at his beloved alma mater, Simeon, where he won two state championships.

And while he receives all kinds of proposals from young women, he said he couldn’t be less interested.

‘‘There’s been a lot, but I’ve got a girlfriend,’’ said Rose, who’s too busy and too wary of the Facebook/social-network phenomenon to do more than post his fan stuff. ‘‘It’s great if you want to keep in touch with your friends, but I don’t get caught up in it. It’s a lot of trouble if you’ve got a girlfriend. I see my friends get in trouble with that every day.’’

This down-to-earth attitude makes Rose a joy to coach, first-year Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said.

‘‘It’s amazing,’’ Thibodeau said. ‘‘When you’re on the outside, you always knew how talented he is. But until you’re around him every day, you don’t see the drive and how humble he is — which makes him so special.

‘‘That’s what I love about him: The team winning is more important to him than any of the individual stuff. That’s why our team is the way it is.’’

‘Going to get better’

Rose might be getting good advice about handling his money wisely. But when it comes to basketball, he’s buying what Thibodeau is selling.

‘‘That’s why we’ve been so successful,’’ Rose said. ‘‘Both of us work hard at what we do. He wants to win; I want to win very badly. Everybody here is on the same page.’’

But there’s a lot of room for growth, Rose said.

‘‘We’re still learning,’’ he said. ‘‘Just seeing what [Thibodeau] likes, the play-calls and all that stuff. Getting used to him has been kind of hard, especially on the defensive end. But everything’s been cool. He lets me go out there and play through my mistakes. He always tells me what I’m doing wrong. But we can still find ways to get to know each other better.’’

Even though Rose, who was in high school four Februarys ago, remains a man-child in many ways, the combination of his exceptional ability and humble demeanor have his older teammates looking to him for leadership.

‘‘As a point guard, he’s a lot more vocal compared to last year and the year before,’’ center Joakim Noah said. ‘‘He’s played through injuries this year — the stomach thing, even ankles. He’s playing through a little pain. He’s a competitor. When you’re out there giving it everything you’ve got, it sends a good message to the rest of the team.’’

It’s way too early to start comparisons with Michael Jordan in terms of accomplishments, but there are similarities between them.

‘‘I was fortunate enough to see it with Michael as a player,’’ said Paxson, who was one of Jordan’s teammates. ‘‘I can never define it, but I know with the guys that are special and great, there’s something inside of them that’s different. There’s no question that that’s the way it is with Derrick. And you have to remember, he’s still a young, young man. Michael went to college for several years. Derrick’s going to get better.’’

Paxson paused and smiled.

‘‘That’s great for us,’’ he said with a grin. ‘‘That’s great for us.’’