Derrick Rose may have retired three seasons ago — and may not have contributed a meaningful playoff moment since mounting a valiant, losing effort in a first-round New York Knicks defeat against the Atlanta Hawks circa 2021 — but his legend still looms large.
Across the last two years, our Chicago Bulls celebrated the youngest MVP in league history with first a Derrick Rose Day (in coordination with the city of Chicago itself) and later the retirement of his No. 1 jersey.
Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose passes the ball during the first half over Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett and point guard Rajon Rondo.Derrick Rose’s Bulls Journey
The No. 1 pick in a talented 2008 NBA Draft class, Rose was an instant star. As a rookie in 2008-09, the hyperathletic pride of Englewood slashed his way inside and stuffed eye-popping dunks above the rim, while returning Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Kirk Hinrich, and second-year center Joakim Noah to the playoffs after a messy 2007-08 season.
That yielded the best first-round playoff series of all time, which for the Chicago faithful peaked with this raucous triple-overtime victory in Game 6. The Bulls folded in seven games to the then-reigning champion Boston Celtics, but Rose had clearly arrived.
Rose’s star only grew from there. He made his first of three consecutive All-Star squads in 2010, and by the time Chicago had canned Vinny Del Negro and brought in Tom Thibodeau, along with adding some solid free agent signings, Rose had graduated to All-NBA status.
At just 22 years old, Rose brought his hometown Bulls back to true contention for the first time since the Michael Jordan/Scottie Pippen dynasty years. In 2010-11, Chicago won 62 games and claimed the Eastern Conference’s top seed. He earned MVP honors and the Bulls marched all the way back to the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Bulls paced the East once again during a lockout-shortened 2011-12 season that yielded (surprise surprise) an inordinate amount of player injuries in a compressed 66-game schedule. With former three-time All-Star shooting guard Rip Hamilton (and a little-used rookie named Jimmy Butler) in for Keith Bogans, Chicago appeared primed to finally unseat LeBron James and make their first Finals this century.
Instead, well, Rose tore his ACL in the playoffs and was never the same. After missing all but 10 games across the 2012-13 and 2013-14 Bulls seasons, Rose started playing below the rim and settling for jumpers far more. Chicago bounced back to win 50 games in 2014-15 after bringing aboard Pau Gasol and a rookie Nikola Mirotic. But Butler and Gasol had emerged as the Bulls’ two best players, though Rose remained a starter and a key cog. Chicago was controversially eliminated by James’ Cleveland Cavaliers in the semis, and Rose was salary-dumped to the New York Knicks in the 2016 offseason.
During his eight Bulls regular seasons (although he sat out all of 2012-13), Rose averaged 19.7 points on .448/.302/.813 shooting splits, 6.2 assists, 3.7 rebounds, and 0.8 steals a night. Despite the achievements of Butler (an historically better player, even if he enjoyed his best moments elsewhere), Noah, and Deng, there’s no question that Rose remains the most beloved Bulls All-Star of their era.
Then-young Bulls point guard Derrick Rose.Derrick Rose’s Bulls Cards
Topps, which is now back in the NBA game after ceding its official partnership status in 2010, produced the first two seasons of Rose cards.
Rose’s 2008-09 Topps Chrome RC, available in various vintages, remains a strong seller even today (more on why later). A BGS 9-5-grade Gold card sold for a reported value of $9,088 last month via an eBay auction, per CardLadder.
The picture packs a wallop of a punch. It depicts Rose rising towards the cup for a two-handed slam.
Derrick Rose’s Topps Rookie Card.This represented a sunny era for the Bulls’ then-rising star.
Rose’s run culminated in that charmed MVP season. Fans, of course, thought that marked just the beginning of an extended tenure at the pinnacle of the East. Instead, after making the conference finals that spring, the Bulls would only win two more playoff series across their next five seasons with Rose. Chicago, by the way, has only made the playoffs twice since trading him 10 years ago (and once since trading Butler nine years ago).
Panini had taken over the NBA’s official trading card duties in time for Rose’s third/best season. His 2010 Panini Classics card depicts him attempting an up-and-under below the rack — in retrospect, an omen of things to come with regard to his play style.
Derrick Rose’s MVP season card.That particular card’s market seems to have been far less robust than that of Rose’s rookie season. A nine-grade version of this 2010-11 season card was auctioned off for a scant $15 on eBay in February.
Still, some other, newer Rose Bulls cards have been selling like hotcakes.
A PSA 10-grade 2013 Panini Innovation Kaboom! card sold for $4,800 a year ago in an auction on Alt, while a BGS grade-9.5 2014 Panini Excalibur Kaboom! card (where the illustrated likeness weirdly more resembles Jimmy Butler) fetched $6,420 in a June auction on the platform.
Overall, the card market for Rose has increased rapidly across the past six months. Per CardLadder, Rose cards have enjoyed a 58.79 percent growth rate since June. They peaked in September and have dwindled a bit in the intervening months, but remain on the upswing overall.
Derrick Rose’s card market has spiked over the last six months.It’s a fascinating trend for a player who hasn’t enjoyed a relevant on-court moment in the last six NBA seasons. Clearly, Rose’s highlight reels have been making the rounds.
And there’s one big remaining basketball achievement that could vault him among the immortals…
Derrick Rose at his Bulls jersey retirement ceremony.Derrick Rose’s Case for the Hall of Fame
Even though he hung up his semi-cursed Adidas after a 2023-24 deep-bench run with the Memphis Grizzlies, Rose could still nab an unlikely final honor for his on-court accomplishments: induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Rose was also an NCAA star at the University of Memphis during a one-and-done 2007-08 season. He guided the program to the championship game, where they fell to (ugh) Mario Chalmers’ Kansas Jayhawks. Could that, combined with his insane Bulls prime (three All-Star teams, one All-NBA First Team selection, plus the MVP and Rookie of the Year accolades and lots of team success) and his 16-year NBA run (although he was only on the floor in 15 of those seasons), be enough to help him make the Hall?
He’s not going to be a first-ballot honoree. Rose will be eligible for the first time next year — four seasons after his last pro action. If Jamal Crawford, who never even made an All-Star team, can get shortlisted, then Rose certainly has a realistic shot of at least getting that far. Excellent role players like Michael Cooper have even been inducted, albeit decades after their retirements.
Derrick Rose was the No. 1 guy on some talented teams. His years at the top were brief, and this writer isn’t sure he accomplished quite enough at that level to make the cut. He does seem likely to get there, however. Should he actually do that, his card valuations could skyrocket.
Chicago Bulls forward Taj Gibson, guard Derrick Rose, center Joakim Noah, and forward Pau Gasol walk off the court.Why Millennial Nostalgia Moves Prices
Although we definitely don’t have the buying power of our parents, millennials are finally entering our prime earning years (although, hopefully, with room to grow) and now have significant disposable income.
Thus, select beloved past stars have been able to ride buoyant waves of nostalgia in recent years. Pre-peak Derrick Rose is clearly no exception. He was an athletic marvel, a whirling dervish of fast-breaking energy equipped to hang with fellow speed demons like John Wall and Russell Westbrook. They were, at the time, seemingly on the cusp of revolutionizing the point guard position — score-first lead ballhandlers with enough court sense to still rack up dimes and lead their teams deep into the postseason.
But injuries sapped Rose and Wall of their burst, while Westbrook’s decision-making and lackluster shooting from outside capped his upside with a hard ceiling. Stephen Curry’s emergence instead changed the position again — but Curry didn’t stop there. The two-time MVP changed the game entirely, leading to the modern 3-point shooting explosion. He, too, was a score-first guard, but he did a lot of his damage from beyond the arc, at such a prolific clip that he was able to bend defenses to his will. Even at age 38, right now, Curry is still a formidable force on a weirdly chippy Warriors team!
So Rose now represents a specific, finite moment in time. Guards played above the rim, and Rose’s insane torque always seemed like it had a shelf life. He is missed.
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