Jalen Rose named ambassador of National Basketball Retired Players Association
Add "ambassador" to Jalen Rose's already-extensive resume.
On Tuesday, it was announced that Rose has been chosen as the National Basketball Retired Players Association's (NBRPA) newly-appointed ambassador, a role in which he'll be responsible for bridging the gap between current NBA players and the league's older alumni.
"It's a family," Rose told NBA.com in a phone interview last week. "I really don't see a disconnect between the two. Now there's always going to be the mentality that, the older you get, the longer the walk looks.
"But for the most part, I think there's a healthy respect in the current players for the retired players and what they've done. Hopefully we can create some awareness, some planning, a decision-making mechanism from top to bottom - whether it's social, emotional or financial - so you're prepared for that next step."
Rose is expected to use his platform as an analyst for ESPN/ABC to raise the profile of the NBRPA, which has been around since 1992 and represents former players from the NBA, ABA, Harlem Globetrotters, and WNBA.
The organization has suffered through years of in-fighting, competing agendas, and mismanagement, issues Rose will obviously attempt to alleviate.