Would The Bulls Have Won The Championship In 2012 Had Derrick Rose Stayed Healthy?
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Would The Bulls Have Won The Championship In 2012 Had Derrick Rose Stayed Healthy?
Would the Bulls have won the championship if Rose had stayed healthy? Former Bulls center Joakim Noah believes so.
Joakim Noah said on the Pardon My Take podcast that he believes that the Chicago Bulls would've won the championship during the 2011-2012 season if Derrick Rose never got hurt.
Noah: "In my mind still to this day, there was no question nobody was fucking with us."
— Daniel Greenberg (@ChiSportUpdates) February 17, 2020
The Chicago Bulls had the best record in the NBA (tied with San Antonio Spurs) and were once again the best team in the East in 2012, winning 50 games and clinching the 1st seed over the Miami Heat, who won 47 games (lockout year). They were also the 2nd best defensive team that year, only behind of the Boston Celtics.
Derrick Rose came off the regular season averaging 21.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and a career high of 7.9 assists per game. Unfortunately, Rose suffered an ACL injury against the Philadelphia 76ers in game 1 of the 2012 playoffs. Championship hopes were derailed from there. Rose finished that game with 23 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists. The Bulls later on lose the series down 2-4.
We were robbed of “what could’ve been” scenarios that could’ve taken place that year. It’s fun to think about, but sadly we’ll never know what would’ve happened had that team stayed healthy throughout the playoffs.
