LeBron James Opens Up About Prime Derrick Rose: ‘One Of The Most Explosive Players That I’ve Ever Played’
On the latest episode of Mind the Game with Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and NBA legend Steve Nash, James opened up about prime Derrick Rose.
James and Nash answered questions from fans and one fan asked James what prime Rose was like.
“I hope and I hope dearly people have not forgotten about Derrick Rose,” LeBron James said. “One of the most explosive players that I’ve ever played. One of the most competitive players I ever played. Injuries suck. They really do. And he’s one of those examples. We have a lot of examples in our sport obviously over the years since this game has been introduced. But the battles that I had against D-Rose when I was in Miami, when I went back to Cleveland, the guy, I think he’s the youngest, if people don’t know, he’s the youngest MVP in our league’s history.
“And what he meant for the Chicago Bulls, he meant even more for the city of Chicago in whole. And he’s a legend. He’s a great and we all love Derrick Rose. If you have ever played basketball, have ever been a part of our league, there’s not one bad thing people could say about Derrick Rose. He was an unbelievable competitor. So we love Derrick Rose man.”
Rose and James were briefly teammates on the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2017-18 before Cleveland traded Rose to the Utah Jazz. The Jazz waived Rose, who signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Rose retired from the NBA before the start of the 2024-25 season. He played for the Bulls, New York Knicks (twice), Cavaliers, Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons and Memphis Grizzlies.
The 2011 MVP, Rose appeared in 723 NBA games. He averaged 17.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.3 blocks per game and made three All-Star teams and one All-NBA team.
The Chicago native also won the 2009 Rookie of the Year Award.
When Rose was with the Bulls, he went 0-3 against James in the playoffs. Rose and the Bulls lost to James and the Cavaliers in the first round of the 2010 playoffs and the second round of the 2015 playoffs.
Rose and Chicago also lost to James and the Miami Heat in the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals.
“Bron was the only one that thought like a point guard that wasn’t a point guard,” Rose said in June. “Where he wouldn’t score early or sometimes he would start scoring early. And he was smart enough to make the adjustment. I hated that.”
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