“Perfect Mentor For Ja Morant”: Day After Derrick Rose Denied Being a ‘Baby Sitter,’ Skip Bayless Forces Leadership Role on Grizzlies’ $3,196,448 Asset

Just a few days ago, the 2008 NBA draft’s number 1 pick Derrick Rose claimed that he had no intention of being Ja Morant’s babysitter. That had been, one of the many expectations on Rose simply because of Rose’s familiarity with the city, as well as the similarity between the hype that he himself experienced towards the start of his career. Now, just days later, speaking on Undisputed, Skip Bayless seemed to force a leadership role on Derrick Rose, who will earn $3,196,448 in the coming season.. 

Stopping short of calling him his mentor, Bayless suggested that Rose was perfect to be the veteran who Morant looks up to. Ja Morant was, and still is expected to take the NBA by storm, in much similar way to Rose. Both the players are athletic monsters and have quite a few similarities in the way they score their points.

Skip Bayless outlines Derrick Rose as the perfect veteran for Ja Morant

Bayless talked about how the expectations placed on Morant were still newfound for the 24-year-old. Playing for Murray State, Morant’s rise to the top of the 2019 NBA draft came as a result of him impressing and developing during college.

Bayless claimed that LeBron-esque expectations are still foreign to Ja, which is not the case for Derrick Rose, who has effectively seen it all. The number 1 pick of the 2008 NBA draft, Rose was seen as a generational player until he had injury troubles.

This means that despite him earning way less than Morant at just $3,196,448, he can prove the right presence to guide the youngster:

“Remember, he was not a LeBron James out of high school. He was in a smaller market and Memphis is one of the smaller market. Point is, he goes to Memphis, and Memphis don’t have a lot of going on except Ja took the whole city over. And guess what, once upon a time, they knew how it felt. Because back when he was at Memphis tigers at school, he owned the city. He knows what it feels like to own the town. He is to me the perfect [mentor for Ja Morant], whatever you wanna call it, mentor, I don’t know if he is a father figure just yet. But he knows it all.”

“Derrick Rose is the perfect mentor for Ja Morant.”@RealSkipBayless anticipates DRose making an on & off-court impact for Grizzlies pic.twitter.com/dVMJXeGvu2

— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) October 4, 2023

While Morant has a world of talent and raw skill, his development has been hindered due to his off-court issues. Ja will not be available for the first 25 games of the upcoming season owing to his ban, and fans will hope that Rose’s company can rub off him in the right way.

Derrick Rose himself has no intention of being Ja Morant’s babysitter

Rose was recently asked about the apparent responsibility that is being placed on him. Speaking on the Grizzlies’ media day, Rose claimed that he had no intention of being the babysitter for the 24-year ol:

“I am not here to babysit, micromanage, any of that. I am not here to be a plant, a plant in the locker room, or any of that. I am here to help guys win. I am not here to steal minutes. I am not here to steal nobody’s job. I am here to win.”

Instead, Rose looks forward to helping the team win, and does not want to “micromanage” his colleagues, or be a “locker room plant.” 

While completely justified, Rose’s focus is helping the entire team win, rather than helping Morant in particular. Of course, that might in itself require him to help the 2-time All-Star, on his own accord.