Kobe Bryant has justifiably taken a ton of criticism this season for being among the NBA’s leaders in usage rate, despite being one of the worst shooters in the league, percentage-wise, at this point of his career. Bryant’s not alone in his inability to recognize limitations. Derrick Rose was described as “Kobe Bryant-light” by ESPN’s Ryen Russillo, and Rose’s bad habits are actually more damaging than Kobe’s.
The main critique of Kobe this season regarding his shooting isn’t always about how poor it’s been, but how it’s stunting the development of Los Angeles’ young players, particularly D’Angelo Russell, the No. 2 overall pick in 2015. Rose, however, is using 24 percent of Chicago’s possessions, and he’s getting in the way of Jimmy Butler, an All-Star.
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Rusillo pointed out that the Bulls are at their best when they’re “running the good plays for Jimmy Butler,” but then have to acquiesce to Rose and “pretend” he’s still a superstar. Rose still has a big name, but he’s hitting a dreadful 24 percent of his 3-pointers, shooting 36.7 percent overall from the field, and attempting a career-worst 2.5 free throws.
Rose’s true shooting percentage is actually slightly worse than Kobe’s, and he has a lower PER. The league average PER is 15; Kobe checks in at 11, while Rose hasn’t been able to crack double-digits in that category, checking in at 9.8.
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Meanwhile, Butler is scoring 20.7 points, and has posted a 20.7 PER and 56.6 true shooting percentage on 15 shots a night, or one more than Rose.
Bryant’s relentless chucking can be waved off as a money-grab from an aging veteran, whose team was not going anywhere this season anyway. There’s no excuse for Rose, who at 27 has dealt with more injuries than most players experience in their whole career, to not be taking a backseat to Butler.
The Bulls are deep, talented, and have a real chance to challenge for the Eastern Conference championship. If they want to have a prayer, however, it’s important that Rose admit his current circumstance and cede the offense to its new alpha dog.
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