Battle of the Injured: Penny Hardaway vs Derrick Rose

Penny Had
Penny Hardaway (Left) and Derrick Rose (Right)

The careers of Penny Hardaway and Derrick Rose are eerily similar: Both came into the league as lottery draft picks, Hardaway picked third overall in the 1993 NBA Draft and Rose was the top pick in the 2008 Draft. Over the first four years of their careers, the players became superstar highlight machines and point guards believed to become one of the best of all-time.

After their fourth season (or in the case of Rose, in the playoffs of his fourth year), the players suffered serious left knee injuries, leading to a streak of injuries and the players losing their explosive athletic abilities which made up a big part of their games. Now they are part of the "what-if" club, along with players like Ralph Sampson, Bill Walton, Brandon Roy, and Grant Hill of how good they could have been.

Though their careers did not stay at the heights they hit so early on, the two former stars left a lot of great memories, moments, and this is a discussion of which one is the better player.

Argument for Penny

Penny Hardaway with MJ in the 1995 Eastern Conference Semi-Finals
Penny Hardaway with MJ in the 1995 Eastern Conference Semi-Finals

Shooting wise, Hardaway was a more efficient scorer than Rose, shooting over .50% from the field two out of his first four years in the league. Hardaway also averaged 1.9 steals a game compared to Rose, who averaged less than a steal a game (0.9) during his healthy seasons. As a big point guard, standing at 6'7, Penny could pull down more rebounds than D-Rose (4.5>3.6).

However, there is one important factor that Rose has in front of Hardaway: The man in the middle. From the moment Derrick stepped on the basketball court, Derrick Rose was the face and man with the Chicago Bulls. The year before Penny was drafted, the Orlando Magic selected an LSU center named Shaquille O'Neal with their first pick. The Orlando Magic were clearly Shaq's team. He was the man. So in terms of value between the two, Derrick's influence on the Bulls was much greater than Hardaway's on Orlando.

Argument for Rose

Chicago Bulls v Miami Heat
Derrick Rose

Derrick was the OG of the modern, super athletic point guard we see today in the NBA. All-Stars like John Wall and Russell Westbrook games mirror Derrick Rose's game. As the No. 1 option on his team, Derrick average more points and assists per game than Penny and became the youngest Most Valuable Player at 22 years old. And while Hardaway was bigger body wise, Rose was the much more explosive athlete at their peaks.

That being said, Rose's teams could not ever find themselves in a position to win the championship like Penny's team. In Hardaway's second season, the Magic defeated the Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers to reach the NBA Finals, before losing to the more experienced Houston Rockets.

The next year, in Michael Jordan's first full season back in the league after his first retirement, the Bulls took down Orlando in the playoffs. After that season, Shaq left for the Lakers and Orlando's window officially closed with their best player. Chicago with Rose had the best record in all of basketball in his MVP season and was snuffed out pathetically by the Miami Heat of LeBron, Wade, and Bosh. LeBron James, the former MVP who's move to Miami cost him in the race that year, guarded Rose in the fourth quarter of games and held him to below 20% shooting.

So Who Would You Take

The fact is that we saw a team with Penny as their best player and a team with Derrick as their best player. Rose's team go to the doorstep of the NBA Finals before running into the Miami Heat Big 3. Hardaway, the year after Shaq left, was knocked out in the first round by the Miami Heat. And though injuries after their fourth seasons took away that All-Star ability, they still played more seasons than just four. Rose is still in the league today. And when looking at those years, Rose and Hardaway are still close, but Rose might barely edge him out there.

It is close, but looking at their team success, their own numbers, and their post injuries career, the edge goes to D-Rose by a hair. Who knows what would have become of these two had their knees stood the test of time. The one thing that can be said is that they are two of the most dynamic guards the game has ever seen.

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Edited by Yash Matange