Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce Recall 2009 Celtics-Bulls Series: “Derrick Rose vs Rondo Tho”

Drafted #1 by the Chicago Bulls in the 2008 NBA Draft, Derrick Rose took the league by storm in his very first year. In his third year in the league, Rose became the youngest player to win the MVP award and the only player in Bulls’ history after Michael Jordan to do so. However, he had been playing at an MVP level since his rookie season.

Imagine a rookie taking on a dynasty team in a postseason series with legends like Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, and Ray Allen on the roster. That’s exactly what happened in a first-round matchup between the Celtics and the Bulls in the 2009 playoffs. 

Boston Celtics in the 2008-09 season were the defending Champions and the favorites to win it all once again. On their Showtime podcast ‘KG Certified’, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce recently sat down and recalled how a young Derrick Rose took their dynastic side to Game 7 in the first round despite having little to no help.

KG was hurt in the first-round series, but saw Rose’s fearless dominance from the bench. Pierce, on the other hand, had the first-hand experience of playing a rookie Rose. He brought up the topic on the show, “Derrick Rose vs Rondo tho! Rookie Rose too.”

KG couldn’t but shake his head in awe, “Classic Sh*t bro...He [D-Rose] was a problem from day one man…He was built for it…[The series] was a dogfight. D-Rose actually thought, ‘Man, I could beat these guys by myself.'”

Meanwhile, Paul Pierce added,

“I ain’t never seen a point guard that athletic though. When he did, one of them game, he did the dunk on the breakaway. He rocked it and cradled it and then dunked it. I was like, ‘Whoa, point guards is doing that now?’”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Forgotten Seasons (@forgottenseasonsnba)

In his playoff debut, Rose scored 36 points against the Celtics in a 105-103 win. Even as a rookie, he averaged 19.7 points while shooting 47.5% from the field. He also averaged 6.3 assists and 4.9 rebounds in the series.

The Celtics eventually won 4-3 after a 7-game dogfight. But to this day, the series remains a legend and Rose the hero, someone who fought till his last breath.

The fall of a legend, Derrick Rose’s career so far

Despite being only 34 years old, we might be seeing the end of Rose’s career. Starting his NBA career with a bang, the 2008 Rookie of The Year didn’t have the trajectory that he wanted. After playing seven seasons with the Bulls, Rose was finally traded to the New York Knicks in 2016 after he suffered his ACL injury in the 2011-12 season.

In the 2013-14 season, he suffered a torn meniscus in his right knee. That was it, Rose was never the same again.

After playing with the Knicks, he joined LeBron James in Cleveland but was traded the same year to the Timberwolves. After that, he was traded to the Detroit Pistons, where he played for two seasons only to return to the Knicks again.

Rose had some late success there and became a crowd favorite. However, he signed for the Memphis Grizzlies on July 3, 2023. 

We will never know what the NBA would have looked like if Rose didn’t get injured. Yes, he might have very well changed the narrative and the landscape of the league.

Despite his career-ending setback with injuries, Rose has risen from the ashes like a phoenix. He is a hero and he will always remain a hero for many.