Ethical Sports Takes

Derrick Rose was Russell Westbrook before Russ.

Everything we eventually watched Russell Westbrook become, Derrick Rose already had in his bag. The freak athleticism. The explosiveness. The ability to attack the rim like somebody had launched him out of a cannon. He was a little undersized compared to some of the league’s other superstars, but that never stopped him from playing with an aggression that made him one of the most exciting players in basketball.

Before injuries changed everything, Derrick Rose was amazing. And I don’t use that word lightly.

At just 22 years old, Rose became the youngest MVP in NBA history. He had Chicago believing it had found its next superstar, and considering how young he was, it felt like we were watching the beginning of something special rather than the peak.

Unfortunately, we know what happened next. Injuries didn’t just slow Derrick Rose down. They completely changed the trajectory of his career.

And that’s what makes his Hall of Fame case so difficult. Because when I ask myself whether Derrick Rose was ever good enough to be a Hall of Fame player, the answer is easy.

Absolutely.

But when I ask whether the career he actually had is enough to put him in the Basketball Hall of Fame? Unfortunately, I think the answer is no.

Chicago Basketball Was Relevant Again

To understand Derrick Rose’s impact, you have to remember where the Chicago Bulls were when he arrived. Michael Jordan’s final championship with Chicago came in 1998. What followed was a long stretch in which one of basketball’s most famous franchises struggled to find its next true superstar. The Bulls eventually returned to the playoffs and had some solid teams, but Chicago wasn’t seriously viewed as a championship contender anymore.

Then the kid from Chicago showed up.

The Bulls selected Rose with the first overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, and the turnaround happened quickly. Rose won Rookie of the Year, became an All-Star in his second season, and by his third season the Bulls weren’t simply relevant again. They had the best record in basketball.

Rose gave Chicago something it had been searching for since Jordan left: a superstar capable of making the Bulls feel like genuine championship contenders again.

And he did it with a roster that, while perfectly constructed around him, wasn’t exactly overflowing with offensive superstars. Joakim Noah was an incredible defender, rebounder and leader. Luol Deng was a very good two-way player. Carlos Boozer could score. Taj Gibson was valuable. Kyle Korver could shoot. Tom Thibodeau built an elite defense.

Those were good basketball players, but offensively everybody knew whose shoulders the Bulls were riding on.

Derrick Rose was the engine.

The Youngest MVP Ever

The 2010–11 season is where Derrick Rose became something bigger than simply Chicago’s next star. Rose averaged 25.0 points, 7.7 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game, leading Chicago to a 62–20 record and the best record in the NBA.

Then came the MVP.

At 22 years old, Rose became the youngest player in NBA history to win the award. And look at the era in which he did it. LeBron James was 26 and firmly in his prime. Kobe Bryant was still Kobe Bryant. Kevin Durant was emerging as one of the greatest scorers basketball had ever seen. Dwight Howard was arguably the best defensive player on the planet.

Rose won it anyway.

The numbers were great, but watching him explained the MVP better than any box score ever could. Rose was explosive in a way very few point guards had ever been. He could blow past the first defender, absorb contact from somebody twice his size and somehow contort his body around the rim to finish. His first step was ridiculous, his change of direction was ridiculous, and his ability to elevate around the basket at his size didn’t make sense.

Chicago needed all of it. Defenses knew Rose was coming.

Stopping him was something else entirely.

More Than One Great Season

Sometimes Rose’s career gets reduced to that MVP year because of what happened afterward, but his rise didn’t happen overnight. He won Rookie of the Year in 2009 after averaging 16.8 points and 6.3 assists. By Year 2, he was an All-Star. Then came the MVP season, followed by another All-Star selection in 2011–12.

For a brief period, Rose had established himself among the best players in basketball. Chicago won 62 games in 2010–11 and 50 games in the lockout-shortened 2011–12 season, finishing with the NBA’s best record both years.

That wasn’t an accident. The Bulls had an elite defense and excellent coaching, but Rose was the player who transformed all of that into a championship-caliber team. When possessions broke down and somebody needed to create offense, the answer was usually the same.

Give Derrick the ball.

One Play Changed Everything

Then came April 28, 2012.

Chicago was closing out Game 1 of its first-round playoff series against Philadelphia. Rose attacked the basket, came down awkwardly and tore the ACL in his left knee.

He was 23 years old.

That’s what makes the Derrick Rose story so difficult to think about even now. We didn’t watch an aging superstar begin to break down after giving basketball a decade of his prime. Rose’s body betrayed him before his prime had really begun.

He missed the entire following season. After finally returning in 2013, Rose played only 10 games before tearing the meniscus in his right knee. From that point forward, the question surrounding Derrick Rose was no longer whether he could become one of the greatest point guards ever.

It became whether he could stay healthy enough to play basketball.

The Career That Never Got to Happen

This is where it’s tempting to imagine what Derrick Rose’s résumé could have looked like. Maybe there were more MVP-caliber seasons coming. Maybe Chicago eventually got through LeBron and Miami. Maybe Rose finished with eight or nine All-Star selections. Maybe he won a championship. Maybe we’re discussing where he ranks among the greatest point guards ever instead of whether he belongs in the Hall of Fame.

But unfortunately, we can’t judge a Hall of Fame career on what might have happened.

Rose finished with three All-Star selections, one First-Team All-NBA selection, Rookie of the Year and, of course, the 2011 MVP.

That’s an incredibly unusual résumé.

The MVP screams Hall of Fame. The rest of the résumé doesn’t.

And none of that is an insult to Derrick Rose. It’s simply the unfortunate reality of what injuries took away from him.

He Still Found a Way Back

One of my favorite parts of Rose’s career is that he never simply disappeared. The player who returned after all those injuries couldn’t play exactly like the 22-year-old MVP anymore. That ridiculous athleticism had been compromised, and Rose had to figure out how to remain an effective NBA player without the physical gifts that once made him unstoppable.

He did.

Rose bounced around the league and rebuilt himself into a valuable veteran. Then, playing for Minnesota in 2018, he produced one of the most emotional performances of his career: 50 points, a career high.

Watching Rose become emotional afterward meant something because everyone knew what it had taken for him to get there. The surgeries, rehabilitation, setbacks, criticism and years spent trying to rediscover himself had all led to that night.

It wasn’t MVP Derrick Rose returning. It was Derrick Rose proving that everything basketball had thrown at him still hadn’t gotten rid of him.

So, Will Derrick Rose Make the Hall of Fame?

Unfortunately, I don’t think so.

And I don’t particularly enjoy saying that.

If we’re talking purely about ability, Derrick Rose was unquestionably Hall of Fame good. At his peak, he wasn’t merely one of the best point guards in basketball. He was the MVP of the entire league.

He carried the offensive burden for Bulls teams that won more games than anyone else in basketball, made Chicago feel like a legitimate championship threat again and gave a city that had spent years searching for its next basketball superstar someone it could completely rally behind.

But the Hall of Fame has to evaluate the career that happened, not the career injuries prevented us from seeing. Three All-Star appearances and one All-NBA selection simply aren’t enough for me, even with an MVP sitting in the middle of the résumé.

Maybe voters eventually decide that becoming the youngest MVP in NBA history is enough by itself to push Rose over the line. I wouldn’t be upset if they did.

But if I’m casting the vote?

Unfortunately, I’m leaving him out.

Not because Derrick Rose wasn’t great enough, but because we didn’t get to watch him be great for long enough.

And that might be the saddest part of the entire Derrick Rose story.

We didn’t watch his prime come to an end.

We barely got to watch it begin.

Same game. Different perspective.

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