Paul George Recalls Derrick Rose Handing Him His ‘Welcome to the NBA’ Moment With a 40-Piece

After 16 illustrious years in the NBA, Derrick Rose has finally announced his retirement from the league. A kid from Chicago who became the youngest MVP in league history, Rose got shout-outs from numerous players and legends on social media. And amid his retirement, an old video of Paul George describing Rose dropping 40 points on him has resurfaced.

During an old episode of Podcast P with Paul George, PG-13 talked about his first year in the league. Among other topics, he spoke about how D-Rose gave him 40 points in PG’s first playoff series.

The Pacers met the Bulls in the first round of the 2011 Eastern Conference playoffs. And George got the assignment to guard Rose, in his rookie season.

“‘Alright P. You got D-Rose.’ I’m like, ‘Wait, what? I just started playing. Like y’all trust me guarding the MVP? So, I’m like, ‘Bet. I’ll take the challenge.’” 

“It was crazy matching up with him and seeing him in front of me. Cause I’m not gon’ lie, that year, bro he was untouchable. And I felt that I played good against him and I look at the box score, 40. God damn. I thought I was on his sh*t today.”

 

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A post shared by Podcast P with Paul George (@podcastpshow)

As a rookie, PG did a good job guarding Rose in that series. But the MVP did what he did best and took care of the Pacers in five games. The Bulls managed to defeat Indiana 4-1 to advance to the second round.

D-Rose’s MVP year

D-Rose’s 2011 MVP season is still talked about to this day when discussing the best MVP runs. A Chicago native, Rose was touted to be the next chapter in the Bulls dynasty after the Michael Jordan era.

Rose won the Rookie of the Year in his first season and went on to make the All-Star team in his very next year. And by the third year, D-Rose went on to bag the MVP honors, making him the youngest to ever win the award.

His 2011 season was something special. As per BasketballReference, Rose averaged 25.0 PPG, 7.7 APG, and 4.4 RPG. He led the Bulls to the Eastern Conference Finals. Unfortunately, the Bulls eventually came up short against LeBron James and the Miami Heat.

Even now, 13 years on from his historic MVP season, D-Rose still has the hearts of NBA fans all over, and will always be remembered as one of the best MVP campaigns ever.