January 4, 2025, was Derrick Rose night at the United Center as the Chicago Bulls celebrated their MVP in his first season as a retired player. Saturday night’s game against the New York Knicks was a small part of the celebration. Rose played an exhibition game at his high school Simeon on Friday night with his son and other prominent people who helped him get to where he is now. Pre-game and halftime court appearances by Rose drew immense cheers from the raucous United Center crowd, especially when it was announced that the Chicago Bulls would be retiring Rose’s #1 jersey.
The fanfare and nostalgia of the weekend was accompanied by a looming question for the 2010-11 NBA MVP: Is he going to the Basketball Hall of Fame? The heights that Rose leaped to were certainly indicative that he was going to find himself inducted, but as high as he jumped, he fell just as hard. Knee injuries sapped much of what was sure to be a prime unrivaled by a Chicago Bulls guard since the man with a statue in front of the building, Michael Jordan. A college scandal also robbed Rose of consideration based on his time at Memphis. Will Derrick Rose make it into the Hall of Fame?
Chicago Bulls Celebrate One Of Their Own
On September 26, 2024, Derrick Rose retired from basketball. The announcement sent reverberations into the basketball community as the 2008-09 NBA Rookie of the Year and 2010-11 NBA MVP was stepping away from the floor, a canvas that he used to display some of the most acrobatic and athletic activity the sport has ever seen. The gifts that he was given were shared with his community in Chicago for eight seasons after he was drafted with the first overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft.
The latter of those eight years were riddled with injuries, rehab, and setbacks as Rose tried to recapture what he had been able to do in his dazzling first seasons in the NBA. The inability to get back to that place led to the Chicago Bulls trading him to the New York Knicks in 2016. For the next eight years, Rose would bounce around the league and make a healthy living as a rotation guard. He became a viable scoring threat off the bench and with an improved three-point shot, was more flexible within offenses he was no longer the focal point of.
At 36, Rose called it a career and ended one of the most interesting careers the NBA has seen in a while. He dealt with complications from his multiple knee injuries for the rest of his career, with the most obvious being his limited explosiveness and quickness. If you had never seen Rose play before the injuries, you wouldn’t think he was hampered in any way, but that shows how dynamic he was as a youngster. Is that player, that young, dynamic point guard, worthy of making it to the Hall of Fame? That question came up Saturday night when the Chicago Bulls celebrated Rose.
Will Derrick Rose Make the Hall of Fame?
The Chicago Bulls defeated the New York Knicks 139-126 on Derrick Rose night and the local product was ever-present throughout the game. He had an introduction in pre-game and halftime, made some remarks, and listened to some of his former teammates and coaches talk about his playing career on the court. Then Rose made his way over to the broadcast area on the sideline to commentate during the fourth quarter. Rose joined Chicago Bulls color analyst and former Chicago Bulls player Stacey King and one-time play-by-play announcer Neil Funk, who returned to the broadcast for the special occasion.
The group discussed some of their fondest memories during the best days of Rose’s career in Chicago, the relationships that were forged long before Rose was selected by the Bulls in 2008, and where the 36-year-old is mentally in his life with transitioning from playing to retirement, among other things. The topic of discussion that was the most talked about after the game was what the trio had to say about Rose’s candidacy for the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Prompted by Funk, Rose advocated for himself by stating, “I just think if you can get dropped into any era in basketball and dominate, you should be in the Hall of Fame, and I think I did [that].” King agreed saying, “Yes, absolutely.” It would certainly be unprecedented if Rose did not make the Hall of Fame, but Rose’s career is such an anomaly that it creates some room for debate about his credibility. Derrick Rose would be the only MVP ever to not be enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
Tough Decision To Make For the Hall of Fame
The emotion and atmosphere of the night might’ve contributed to the conversation but it is certainly a tough decision to make. With an abbreviated prime and many injury-riddled seasons, Rose didn’t stack up the numbers one would think a Hall of Fame could produce in a 16-year career. Rose retired having scored fewer points in his career than Harrison Barnes, and I don’t believe anybody is calling for Barnes to get into the Hall of Fame.
One of the tougher breaks for Derrick Rose given how his career unfolded is that he can not include his college career as a reason to get him in the Hall of Fame. Even before Rose’s meteoric rise with the Chicago Bulls his college career is discounted because of eligibility violations and sanctions levied against Rose and Memphis. In Rose’s lone season, he led the Tigers to the NCAA Championship Game and they were one Kansas Guard Mario Chalmers three-pointer away from becoming National Champions. None of that can be considered when evaluating Rose for the Hall of Fame.
Between the short prime, lack of an official college resume, and an extended period of average play late in his career, it would be more than fair to say that Derrick Rose shouldn’t be in the Hall. But there’s a reason Chicago Bulls fans came out to see him get celebrated Saturday night. The electricity and violent elegance that Rose played the game with resonated with the basketball world and Rose’s childhood community. His special run garnered him accolades, awards, and respect as one of the best players to ever don a Chicago Bulls uniform, and that might just be enough to get the kid from Englewood into Springfield.
Final Thoughts
The Pro Basketball Hall of Fame is the easiest to get into of all the major sports. It wouldn’t surprise me if Rose got in, even if he doesn’t have the numbers to back it up. As a kid growing up watching Rose every night, it was an event to see Rose suit up and play with the Chicago Bulls before the knee injuries.
He changed the math defenses had to play with a point guard and was the author of some of the most impressive highlights in recent memory. We were robbed of a generational player, and he was so excellent in his brief peak that he might receive one of the highest honors in sport anyway.
