D-Rose vs. His Airness

The regular season is coming to an end and, for the first time since Michael Jordan graced the United Center court wearing red, white and black, the Bulls are the first seed in the Eastern Conference.

That accomplishment, which not even the most optimistic fan could have predicted before the start of the season, is due in (very) large part to Derrick Rose.

It seems like every night he does something that leaves us speechless, and just when we think we’ve seen it all – he finds a way to one-up himself. It’s a characteristic that Chicago fans haven’t seen in a basketball player since…well…Michael Jordan graced the United Center court wearing red, white and black.

Because both Jordan and Rose have led their respective teams to great success and because of their aptitude for mind-blowing plays, the comparisons have begun to fly. As Rose closes in on his first MVP award, I have heard the quiet rumblings: “Is Derrick Rose the next Michael Jordan?”

For years, every time there is a new MJ-comparison – whether it be Kobe Bryant or LeBron James, I have scoffed at the idea. Often times, I think the comparisons come from the fact that people forget how good Jordan really was.

However, just for fun, let’s go ahead and take a look at Rose v. Jordan. For fairness sake, I will compare Jordan’s third year in the league to Rose’s 2010-11 season – which is his third year.

First, the percentage stats:

**	Field Goal %	3 Point %	Free Throw %
Michael Jordan	.482	.182	.857
Derrick Rose	.441	.332	.859

Now, the per-game stats:

**	Minutes	Points	Assists	Rebounds	Turnovers
Jordan	40.0	37.1	4.6	5.2	3.3
Rose	37.4	24.9	7.9	4.1	3.4

When you look at the numbers you start to see where the comparisons come from. In a lot of categories, the two compare really well. The difference is that Jordan was a better shooter – inside the arc – and scored about 12 more points per game.

Rose has more assists, but that’s to be expected from a point guard, and 12 additional points per game is a big difference.

Still, the big test for Rose will be next year. The 1986-87 season (Jordan’s third) was the last time Jordan shot below 50 percent until 1992-93. 

Jordan took huge strides between his third and fourth year. In the 1988-89 season Jordan shot 53.5 percent from the field, dished out nearly six rebounds per game, and still scored more than 35 points per game.

If Rose can pull that off, sure, maybe he can compare to Jordan. But right now, it’s just not fair to think that anyone – even someone who works as hard as Rose – can make that kind of dramatic jump. He’s not Jordan right now and there’s a good chance he never will be.

But let me be clear – that’s not a knock on Rose. More so, it’s a declaration of just how unbelievably good His Airness actually was. It’s hard to imagine Rose being any better than he already is and it’s even harder to believe that we once had someone who was even better.