Reggie Miller Claiming Derrick Rose Battled LeBron For "6-8 Years" For Who Was The Best Player In The NBA Is Certifiably Insane

Gregory Shamus. Getty Images.

As I've written many times before, I am someone who is not only in favor of Derrick Rose getting his jersey retired as a Bull, frankly I think it was beyond time. I know this is controversial to some, and there are some opposing fans that because DRose never won a title as a Bull and that his career wasn't all that long that he shouldn't have had that honor. Those people, are morons. They say shit like that and probably have no idea that Bob Love never won a title in his 9 years as a Bull, nor did Jerry Sloan in his 10 seasons. 

Aside from what he did on the court, Derrick Rose is Chicago. It honestly surprised me that there was ever pushback on the idea of his #1 going up to the rafters, that always seemed like a no brainer to me, and everything about his ceremony the other day was awesome. I'm sure it was even better for Bulls fans in attendance and watching around the world. Jersey retirements are always awesome when it's happening to one of your guys, and for everything Rose means to that city, it was long overdue. 

Having said ALL that, what's perhaps unfortunate about the whole thing is it now creates a world where people lose their goddamn minds talking about Derrick Rose. Like everything nowadays, we're seeing things be taken just a bitttttttt too far. 

The jersey retirement was a no brainer, and you could even make the case for the Hall Of Fame, as I do think Rose is right on that border of Hall Of Fame and Hall Of Very Good. In fact, back in Septemeber 2024 after he retired I broke it all down

Which brings me to Reggie Miller

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For a 6-8 year stretch Derrick Rose and LeBron were battling for who was the best in the game?? Why. Why must we do this? All this does is set up Derrick Rose for slander, because make no mistake, this claim is beyond insane. This isn't to say DRose wasn't awesome, but what are we doing? His best 3 years as a pro came in 2009-2012 where he made 3 All Stars and won his MVP. I'm not a huge math guy, but 3 seasons is in no way 6-8 years. I presume this is the run Reggie Miller is talking about

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As you can see, there was the MVP/1st team All NBA season, and then no other All NBAs or even top 5 MVP finishes. You're looking at around 22/3/7 averages for Rose during those 3 seasons. 

Do I even have to show what LeBron was doing in those years, which just so happened to be the early stages of his NBA prime years? No, but I will anyway

2 MVPs, 2 top 5 DPOYs, 3 1st Team All NBAs, 3 1 First Team All Defenses,  3 All Stars with averages of 27.0/7.5/7.3

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I don't even mean to come off as a LeBron glazer or anything….I'm just someone who ya know, was alive during 2009-2012 and watched the NBA. As good as Derrick Rose was, there was no 6-8 year battle with LeBron for the best player in the NBA. I'm sure some people don't even think DRose was better in his MVP season, which LeBron finished 3rd in. You could make the case that was voter fatigue so LeBron didn't get 3 straight, seeing as how ya know, he won the two before Rose and the two after Rose. 

I know we live in a world of hot takes and athletes/talking heads saying some insane shit, but when I heard that sentence from Reggie Miller I spit out my coffee that I was actually drinking. It might be one of the mose insane things I've ever heard an "analyst" say if we're being honest. I don't even think Derrick Rose had a 6 year prime, so how could he be battling with LeBron for best player in the NBA for nearly HALF OF HIS CAREER???? Rose was in the NBA for 15 seasons, and never averaged over 19 a game once he came back from his 2012-13 injury. He never played over 66 games in any season! It's not his fault, injuries suck….but that's what happened. 

There's no need to rewrite history. You can praise Derrick Rose, think he was worthy of a jersey retirement, and even suggest that as the youngest MVP in NBA history, he should be in the HOF. You can do ALL of that without trying to pretend he had an entirely different career. That's just weird to me as someone who was there for Derrick Rose and LeBron's career. I can't ever remember there being a single legit conversation of a DRose/LeBron battle for NBA supremacy. We don't need to try and pretend there was, I promise.

Instead, how about we just appreciate the player Derrick Rose actually was. For me, that's enough