For those who watched the NBA in the late 2000s, Derrick Rose remains one of the league’s biggest what-ifs. The youngest league MVP was getting better every season and he had the entire country captivated with his high-flying game. Chandler Parsons was just as entranced by the Bulls point guard, but he argued for a more objective view of Rose’s legacy.
Advertisement
On ‘Run It Back’, Parsons was recently asked about the greatest what-ifs in NBA history and he immediately thought of the explosive #1. “What if Derrick Rose never got hurt?” the former NBA forward said. “Top 5 point guard, multiple MVPs. Besides, he only had like three or four good years, which is crazy to think but man, they were explosive and he was so much fun to watch.”
However, despite his clear soft spot for the former Bulls star, Parsons believes that Rose’s resume might not cut it for a spot in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
When asked if D-Rose is a Hall of Famer, Parsons responded, “No, which is crazy. I think longevity and health, that’s going to matter and that’s going to hurt him. There’s a lot of other guys with kind of more accolades, more All-Stars, better resumes that aren’t in. But I wouldn’t be mad if he was [a Hall of Famer].”
Comment your two greatest what if’s in NBA history below ⬇️😱 @ChandlerParsons pic.twitter.com/wP3ZbPhFqX
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) November 26, 2024
While Parsons’ arguments do hold merit, looking at the inductee list, it becomes clear that there isn’t exactly a formula to becoming a Hall of Famer. The qualifying criteria are somewhat intangible and it’s hard to measure the contributions Rose made to basketball despite having his career derailed by injuries.
That being said, a three-time All-Star nomination with an NBA MVP and an All-NBA First Team selection is a pretty good resume for getting inducted into the Hall-of-Fame. It’s noteworthy that every single league MVP winner in NBA history has been inducted into the NBA Hall-of-Fame except some of the players who have won it in the 2010s and 2020s, who are still waiting their turn.
Derrick Rose believes he is a Hall of Famer
If Rose’s knees and ACL could withstand his own explosiveness, he would undoubtedly be a first-ballot honoree. However, even with varying opinions surrounding his status, the 2011 NBA MVP considers himself to be worthy because of his personal journey to the top of the league.
“I am a Hall of Famer. Not in everybody’s eyes, but to the people that I grew up with. Like, I made it…I been having these same expectations I have now, they were thrown on me in sixth grade. I achieved all that. I got through all that,” Rose said in an interview in 2019.
He certainly deserves the recognition for holding himself to a high standard and somehow still surpassing it. Rose’s ascension to the NBA’s pinnacle has left a massive mark on the league’s history, and that contribution should be plenty to earn him the Hall of Fame recognition.
Legendary big men like Bill Walton and Arvydas Sabonis received the honor too despite holding a shorter peak in the NBA than D-Rose did. Rose played 11 seasons in the league while Walton played 10 and Sabonis just 7. Furthermore, Walton, much like Rose, was plagued by injuries throughout his career and managed to play over 60 games on just three separate occasions.
Rose did it five times. His first three seasons after entering the league (his peak) saw him play at least 78 games each year and by the end of his 11-season career, Rose would play in nearly 250 more games than Walton. As such, there is definitely a precedent for injury-laden superstars like D-Rose to make it into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
