Ex-NBA star makes bold claim about Chicago Bulls legend Derrick Rose

If injuries hadn’t cropped up and persisted for former Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose, his legacy might have been very different. At least, Pat Beverley, a former NBA star who played 12 years, one with the Chicago Bulls, thinks Rose’s legacy would’ve been so much greater.

On his podcast, he was asked about leaving one of the following players out in their prime:

• Derrick Rose
• Allen Iverson
• Kyrie Irving
• Russell Westbrook

Beverley admitted that this was a huge challenge given that these are some of the best point guards of recent memory. But he immediately said, “D Rose is on there. What he was doing in the Miami Heat series, I’ve never seen a player, he was dunking on the Miami Heat, he had like five dunks in one game.”

He then said he’s taking Kyrie Irving and Allen Iverson, leaving Russell Westbrook off the list. When the co-host suggested that taking Rose was a mistake, Beverley indicated that he might be on drugs for the statement.

“Talking out the side of [your head],” Beverley said. He added that he wouldn’t hesitate to take prime Rose over Iverson. “In his prime, he was the youngest MVP, what are you talking about? If D Rose had stayed healthy, we’d probably be talking about the greatest point guard to ever play the game.”

Beverley thinks that a healthy Rose with a little more help, maybe from someone like Jimmy Butler, would’ve been “trouble” for the NBA. Unfortunately, that never quite came to fruition, but former players like Beverley are doing what they can to remind everyone just how good Rose really was. Rose was the youngest MVP in NBA history before lower-body injuries hit and took their toll on him.