Now That Derrick Rose Is Officially Retiring, Is He A Hall Of Famer?

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Once we got the news the other day that Derrick Rose asked to be let out of his Grizzlies contract and then he immediately put out this video

we pretty much all knew what that meant and what was about to drop. This morning, Derrick Rose's retirement announcement became official

Definitely one of the more iconic players of his era, now that he's hanging his sneakers up for good, it's time for the next question.

Is Derrick Rose a Hall Of Famer?

Just like I did with the recent retirements of Andre Iguodala and Rajon Rondo, let's dive into DRose's case, because it's not as simple as you might think.

To begin, let's first review the personal accolades, which certainly matter when it comes to the HOF.

- 3x All Star

- 1x All NBA (1st team)

- 1x MVP

- 2008-09 ROY

Now, you may look at that list and say no way, that's not enough. I don't think that's an absurd claim, because usually, HOFers have many more All Star/All NBAs etc. But here's what makes the Derrick Rose case a bit complicated. 

In the history of the NBA, every single player who has won an NBA MVP and was eligible to be inducted into the HOF has made it. Every single one. In fact, the only player in NBA history to win either the MVP or Finals MVP and not be inducted into the HOF is Cedric Maxwell who won the Finals MVP in 1981 for the Celts and currently isn't in. Every other player in history? They got the nod.

So, does Derrick Rose being the youngest MVP in NBA history trump his lack of All Stars/All NBAs, which you could attribute mostly to injuries than anything else? It's not like he didn't have the talent or the production, his career was just fucked by injuries.

When you look at his production, while it's true Rose played 723 career games, he never played over 50 games once since 2017-18. After his first three years of playing at least 78 games (played 81 in 2 of the 3), once 2011-12 hit, things were never really the same given his brutal injury luck. In terms of production totals, Rose finishes his career with

- 12,573 points

- 2,234 rebounds

- 3,770 assists

- 536 steals

When you look back in NBA history, a player who ended up being a HOFer that had a similar point total to Rose was Paul Westphal's 12,809. He played 823 games, was a 5x All Star, a 4x All NBA player, and won the 1974 title in his second season with BOS as a young role player who didn't really play. His ascension into stardom didn't really happen until his second year on the Suns when he became "the guy", so he's an interesting case to compare to Rose in my opinion. Sure he has the title, but it wasn't like he was the guy on that championship team.

While Rose may not have a title, that doesn't mean he wasn't a problem in the postseason, especially those early years as a Bull

He was for sure a player who felt impossible to stop at certain times as a Bull, and to me that stuff matters. There are plenty of players who have made the HOF who don't have a title, so I'm not sure that should work against Rose, but given his injury history, the lack of a title might be working against him to some people out there when comparing resumes.

If we continue to look at similar comparisons, I do wonder if the recent induction of a guy like Chauncey Billups will help someone like Rose. Billups finished with 5x All Star, 3x All NBA which is somewhat close to Rose, but he also has 2x All Defense, a title, and a Finals MVP. So even though his production may not have been as impressive as Rose, he has the hardware.

That's why for me, I think the best comparison for a player like Derrick Rose is Penny Hardaway. A guy who absolutely a HOF talent and was a force in his era, who also had his career completely fucked by injury. Penny finished with 4x All Star, 3x All NBA while playing 704 career games and ultimately isn't in the HOF. He didn't win an MVP, he didn't win a title, and largely he's considered one of the greatest "what ifs" in NBA history. If Penny never gets hurt, he's for sure in the HOF. While Rose has the MVP, I think their careers are the closest you can get when trying to find a historical comp. 

As it stands now, Basketball Reference has Rose with a 10% chance of getting into the HOF, and I think that's about right. While it would be the first time in NBA history that an MVP doesn't get in, I think ultimately Rose is going to fall into the Hall Of Very Good*, with that asterisk being the same as Penny's. If healthy, he would have made the HOF.

DRose is obviously forever a Bulls legend and should absolutely get his #1 put up in the rafters, and for my money, he will forever be one of the most exciting players of his era. But HOFer? I think it's going to be pretty damn tough for him to get that nod.