Derrick Rose Explains Why He ‘Hated’ Playing Against LeBron James

2011 MVP Derrick Rose recently revealed that he “hated” playing against LeBron James. 

When Rose was with the Chicago Bulls, he went 0-3 against James in the postseason. 

Rose and the Bulls lost to James and the Cleveland 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. “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.”

Rose and James were briefly teammates on the 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. 

Rose appeared in 723 NBA games. He averaged 17.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.3 blocks. 

The first overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, Rose won the 2009 Rookie of the Year Award and made three All-Star teams and one All-NBA team. 

A four-time MVP and four-time Finals MVP, James is the oldest (40) active player in the NBA. He averaged 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 8.2 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.6 blocks for the Los Angeles Lakers this season. 

Arguably the greatest player of all time, James has played for the Cavaliers (twice), Heat and Lakers. He has career averages of 27.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.4 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.7 blocks.

James is the leading scorer in NBA history. He’s the only player ever to rank top five all-time in points and assists. 

According to Shams Charania of ESPN, James will likely opt in to his 2025-26 player option with the Lakers. James’ player option for next season is worth $52,627,153.