The Real Reason Why Derrick Rose Refused To Recruit LeBron James

Saturday night featured one of the most emotional and nostalgic nights in Chicago in quite some time. The United Center was rocking, fresh off a buzzer-beating win over the Boston Celtics courtesy of Kevin Huerter’s corner three-point basket with under one second remaining in regulation, and the excitement didn’t end there. Derrick Rose, one of the most legendary icons in franchise history, saw his jersey lifted into the rafters in front of hundreds of family members, friends, teammates, and coaches. One of the topics raised last week during preparations for his ceremony was that Rose’s rise to stardom coincided with the early stages of superteam formation in the NBA. During an interview with 670 The Score, the former MVP was asked why he was never the aggressor in recruiting other All-Star-caliber talent to the Windy City, to which he offered a predictable, but admirable answer. Stacey King commented on Rose’s opinion, offered insight, and explained why LeBron James was never invited to play in Chicago.

Loyalty To His Brothers

The main driver behind Rose’s lack of recruitment was his bond with his teammates. As was made extremely evident on Saturday night, that team and era of Bulls basketball had a bond that’s rarely found in sports. When a player has a ceremony or honor, such as a jersey retirement, it’s common to see a few former players or coaches in attendance. For Rose, there were hundreds. His speech was one of the longest of recent memory, nearly 22 minutes, mostly because he had to shout out and specifically thank or reference a plethora of relationships that are still tightly knit today and contributed to his success. Luol Deng, Joakim Noah, Kirk Hinrich, Taj Gibson, and Kyle Korver were just a few of the names in attendance.

Derrick Rose’s former teammates showed up to celebrate his jersey retirement

(via @chicagobulls) pic.twitter.com/a3nZfrwRmz

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) January 25, 2026

As King mentions in his podcast episode, bringing in All-Star-level talent or other players meant replacing current players, which D-Rose was unwilling to do.

Stacey talks about Derrick Rose, and his loyalty to his team taking priority over recruiting LeBron James

We also talk the importance of Thibs speaking up and giving D Rose his flowers

OUT NOW: https://t.co/gzeR4tdv8V pic.twitter.com/Kp6zf5p6R3

— Gimme The Hot Sauce Podcast (@gimmehotsauce21) January 27, 2026

LeBron And Superteams

LeBron James will always be considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time. That being said, there are a few asterisks. He was the first all-time great to continually hand-pick his rosters, jump from franchise to franchise, and openly speak about what the team should do to improve its roster, leaving dozens of former teammates and coaches sour on the experience. Rose, much like Jordan, chose to put his nose down and work hard with the players he was given, to persevere despite what he may have agreed or disagreed with, and to reject the growing trend of All-NBA talents joining forces to overcome adversity. If it wasn’t for a slew of devastating injuries that quickly derailed his career shortly after becoming one of the league’s best, Rose may have some hardware to validate his loyalty.

"For a 6-8 year stretch, him and LeBron were battling for who was the best player in the game."

– Reggie Miller believes Derrick Rose will get into the Hall of Fame one day. @Nutrafol pic.twitter.com/1p0aZAbKPc

— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) January 27, 2026

Is the next step for Derrick Rose a spot in the Hall of Fame?