Can Derrick Rose Win a Ring?
Can Derrick Rose win an NBA Championship? Silly question, right? He's the NBA MVP and is only 22-years-old. If he doesn't lead the Bulls to a title this season, he's bound to before his hardwood days are over, right? Plus, we all know how important the point guard position is on the basketball court - some consider it the most important position out there. Well here's a surprising yet true statement - if Rose leads the Bulls to the NBA Championship ever (not just this season, ever) he will be making point guard history.
It turns out the point guard position isn't nearly as important to winning a NBA title as most would assume. In fact, the last star point guard to lead his team to the NBA title was Isiah Thomas 21 years ago. It's true that Chauncey Billups and Tony Parker, both point guards, won NBA titles plus Finals MVP but they weren't the "stars" of their team - that would be Ben Wallace and Tim Duncan. Despite the various rule changes that have made the game more guard-oriented and despite the seemingly unprecedented quantity of star point guards currently in the League, building a NBA team around a point guard still appears to be an exercise in futility.
Just look at a list of the best point guards over the past 20 years or so. John Stockton. Kevin Johnson. Tim Hardaway. Mark Price. Jason Kidd. Anfernee Hardaway. Steve Nash. Gary Payton. Chris Paul. Deron Williams. All ringless, except for Payton who won one with Miami in 2006 as a bit player. You'd be hard-pressed to compile such a list for any other position in the NBA over the same period - star shooting guards, small forwards, power forwards and centers have all led NBA teams to titles. Which only solidifies what I begrudgingly admitted last week - the Miami Heat are well positioned to win the NBA title this year. Sigh.
