Derrick Rose says Michael Jordan wouldn’t have been as legendary if he played basketball outside of Chicago

There are people who hold the belief that former Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan is the greatest player ever to step foot on an NBA court, and for good reason. He won 10 scoring titles during his tenure in Chicago — the most of any player in the history of the league — and also finished with a 6-0 record in the NBA Finals and six Finals MVP awards.

Another Bulls legend in Derrick Rose argued that while Jordan would have thrived no matter which NBA team he landed with, Chicago’s culture allowed Jordan to carve out an all-time great playing career.

“I gotta talk for Chicago, because a lot of people when they talk about Chicago, they always mention the bad s—,” Rose said in defense of his former NBA home. “So, I gotta mix it up. MJ wouldn’t be MJ if he wasn’t — if he played anywhere else but Chicago for his pro career. He would have been a great player anywhere else, but in Chicago, he became the Black Cat. He became MJ in Chicago just off the strength of the culture that’s in Chicago, and it’s cultures everywhere. The basketball culture is just strong and that the expectation of like, ‘All right, what you gon’ do?'”

Rose knows firsthand what the basketball culture is like in Chicago, as he spent much of his NBA career playing for the Bulls and was also born in the city.

The 36-year-old is also far from the only standout NBA player to hail from Chicago. Mark Aguirre — one of the most prolific scorers the league has ever seen — former Detroit Pistons star Isiah Thomas and Dwyane Wade are all natives of the Illinois city.

Even one of the best players in today’s NBA was born in Chicago in Anthony Davis, who was a member of Team USA when it won a gold medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

While Chicago seemingly has a rich basketball culture, fans of the Bulls haven’t seen the team produce a legitimate NBA title contender in some time. It has been over a decade since the Bulls last reached the Eastern Conference Finals back in 2011, and Rose was ironically on the squad at the time. Additionally, the Bulls are years removed from their last playoff series victory.

The fact that Jordan spent his NBA career in a large market like Chicago may have helped him become as recognizable as he is today. But it’s also worth noting that Jordan had an unparalleled career in part because of all the great players he played with — such as Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman and Horace Grant — and the coaching of Phil Jackson.