DEERFIELD, Ill. -- Derrick Rose's new personal chef probably has some idea of what it's like to guard the Chicago Bulls star on the court.
While NBA defenders try to keep Rose from the basket, the chef will try to limit the point guard's access to his self-proclaimed addiction: Junk food.
"It's just my poison," Rose said after Wednesday's practice. "Everybody's got their poison, and mine is sugar."
The easygoing 22-year-old All-Star admitted he is ready to give up a lot of fast food, but he couldn't swear off all junk food just yet.
"McDonald's is over with," he said. "But chips and candy and stuff, it's going to be hard to get away from that."
Rose has been a candy lover for as long as he can remember. When his sweet tooth became public, Skittles installed a personalized vending machine in his house over the summer. While Rose was appreciative of the gesture, he had to smile and shake his head when he started discussing it.
"That wasn't good," he said. "I don't know why they gave me that, man."
With Halloween quickly approaching, Rose recounted his childhood and the way he used to devour candy as a child.
"On Halloween, don't you know back when you were little, your mom tells you don't eat any candy until she checks it? I used to be so tempted to eat my candy on the way to other people's houses," he said. "That used to be such a tease. [I thought] I could just eat this candy, she wouldn't know. I used to be scared that I was going to get hurt or something, so I'm like, 'I'm going to wait.'"
That didn't always stop him, though.
"[My mom] used to have to hide my candy when I was younger so I wouldn't go in there and eat all of it," he said. "It was bad, man."
To this day, Rose's inability to stay completely away from candy is apparent.
"I'll be having binges where I'll just eat tons and tons of candy," he said. "I could go without eating candy for like two weeks, but right when I [have] the first taste of candy in a day, I'll go through like two pounds of candy. For real, like two pounds."
A sugar high isn't a problem for a grizzled candy veteran like Rose.
"I'm so used to it," he said. "I could eat a whole bunch of candy and then go to sleep. Most people would be up, [saying] 'I can't go sleep.' I'd go right to sleep, man. That's how bad it is. I wish I could [stop]."
While Skittles and Gummy Bears are some of his favorites, Rose is an equal opportunity candy-a-holic. Everything but chocolate, that is.
"Anything sweet," he said. "Any type of sweet candy, I'm going to eat it. I don't know why."
Rose isn't going to be trick-or-treating anymore, but his love for the sweet stuff is so strong that he doesn't think he'll be able to hand out the candy, either.
"My mom or my girlfriend will probably have to hand it out for me," he said. "Because if it was up to me, I would keep all of it."
Rose is looking forward to his chef preparing meals for him at home. But he knows that the power of some Pixy Stix will always be lurking around the corner.
"I don't know what I'm going to do, man," he said. "I'm going to need therapy or something."
Nick Friedell covers the Bulls for ESPNChicago.com.