Former NBA champion Rip Hamilton played one season with prime Derrick Rose on the Chicago Bulls during the 2011-12 lockout year.
That one shortened year was all Hamilton needed to see to anoint Rose as the best point guard in the NBA before his tragic ACL injury in Game 1 of the 2012 playoffs.
On All The Smoke with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, Hamilton said no one wanted “smoke” with Rose when he was the MVP of the league with the Bulls:
Rip Hamilton on D-Rose during his prime years: "None of them dudes wanted no smoke with D-Rose during that time."
(via @SHOsports, All The Smoke) pic.twitter.com/YOv5xNnlJJ
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 29, 2020
Miami Heat All-Star small forward and former Bull Jimmy Butler previously said MVP Derrick Rose is the best player he has played with. Moreover, Washington Wizards star point guard John Wall said Rose is the toughest player he has played in his basketball life.
During the 2010-11 season, Rose became the youngest MVP in NBA history with his hometown Bulls. The former Rookie of the Year averaged 25.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and 7.7 assists and led the Bulls to the No. 1 record in the NBA. Rose was also the only player that season to rank in the top 10 in both points and assists.
Since winning that MVP award, Rose has undergone four knee surgeries and played for the New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves and Detroit Pistons. The Chicago native was averaging 18.1 points and 5.6 assists in 50 games for the Pistons in 2019-20 before the season was suspended due to COVID-19.
Bulls fans gave Rose two standing ovations when the Pistons came to the United Center this season. Rose figures to be the third-most popular player in Bulls franchise history after Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, respectively, for a while.
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