The Bulls and the Celtics are two of the most revered rivals of the Eastern Conference. Derrick Rose even faced the Boston team in his playoff debut in a historic fashion. And after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, he became the only rookie to post a 35+ point, 10+ assist in the NBA’s postseason history. Now in a recent appearance, Rose stated his dislike for a Beantown legend, and is not because of lack of scoring but because the 2x NBA champion never relied on scoring.

“So I never was the leading scorer. I just found my spots and I found the way to like make it look good. But I’m a pure point at heart. So I hate point guards that don’t care about scoring like a Rondo,” Derrick Rose said on the Club 520 Podcast. Pooh further explained his hate for Rajon Rondo’s play style on Jeff Teague’s podcast, “Like they could fall into just the system of just playing the right way.” Derrick Rose also pointed out that he was never a leading scorer while growing up, but the league and the matchups forced him into why. That’s why he ended up with 12, 573 points in his injury-ridden career.

Rondo, on the other hand, scored just 9,337 points but was one of the most entertaining passers in the game. His ability was so good that he currently ranks 15th all-time in the NBA with 7,584 dimes. Since Derrick Rose considers himself a pure point guard, he is upset with himself that he couldn’t add to his assists tally like the Celtics legend. “Scoring ain’t really that much to me because winning the game is more than me.” This lesson was instilled in D-Rose by another Bulls legend Kurt Heinrich.

“Like, I heard one of my OGs, Kurt Heinrich, say like after somebody gave him like 40 or 50, he’s saying this sh– like out loud, but I’m just hearing him. We walking in the hallway, we won.” Rose continued, “That’s why after I scored that 50, I was so happy that I won.” Maybe that’s why scoring more than Rondo doesn’t mean anything because the Celtics legend had more important wins.

In their 31 games against each other, Derrick Rose led in points and blocks average while Rondo led in rebounds, assists, and steals. The Chicago native had a stat line of 20.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 5.5 assists. The 2x NBA Champion had contributions like 11.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 9.5 assists. But Rondo had 4 playoff victories over Rose (3) despite scoring less.

In April, Rondo decided to announce his retirement from the game after spending 16 seasons in the league. “I would rather spend time with my kids.” Even Derrick Rose shared a similar sentiment after his retirement a few weeks ago.

Derrick Rose and Rajon Rondo’s love-hate relationship

On the same Jeff Teague’s podcast, Rondo last year spoke highly about the youngest MVP winner. He said, “It was a dogfight, man. It was one of my favorite series I’ve ever played in shout out to D Rose, one of my favorite players I’ve ever played against. Like he didn’t talk s–t he just let his game do the talking, and he was a tough motherf—-r to guard.”

The playoff series proved to everyone the quality that Pooh possessed. Similarly, Rose was too impressed by the quality of point guard Rondo. While speaking to Through the Wire, the 3x All-Star called the game against the Celtics legend his toughest match-up. He remarked, “My toughest matchup is Rando…He made me think the game. It was chess, bruh, playing against him.”

In the same interview, he highlighted the point guard’s all-around ability to influence the game. “He ain’t care about scoring. But he’ll affect the game with 16 assists, and like 15, 18 rebounds.” That’s why even today, he did not like the fact that he had to play like a shooting guard, but by heart, he is still a true point guard.