Raymond Felton didn’t leave much room for debate when he weighed in on Jalen Brunson.
The former Knicks guard said Brunson is already ahead of Derrick Rose when he looks at their “whole body of work,” and he made that case on “To The Baha” with a blunt comparison of how the two careers have played out.
“His team got better every year. They got further and further. They got chances, and then they won with him as the number one option,” said Felton on “To The Baha.”
“Whereas D-Rose's career ended the way it did, and even if he was able to accomplish the things that we all knew he was going to be able to do, yes, I have to put Jalen Brunson in front of him because Jalen Brunson has done more. He did. That's what it is.”
Felton did acknowledge the obvious what-if hanging over Rose’s career, saying Rose could have won a title if he had stayed healthy. Rose, who was named MVP in 2011, retired in 2024.
The comment set off a split reaction on X. Some users backed Felton’s take, including one who wrote, “He's not wrong.
D-Rose is overhyped. Yeah, he was a good player, but Brunson clears him in everything,” while another said, “It's crazy what JB has been doing in the playoffs in the last four years, and he is still not getting his proper respect,” and another added, “I'll die on the hill that D-Rose is one of the most overrated players of all time.
MVP or CHIP .... Brunson vs DROSE LET'S TALK ABOUT IT @tpinsonn
— ToTheBaha (@ToTheBaha) August 31, 2026
We're picking Derrick Rose because players would DUCK and call in sick for the night AVOIDING him the "Derrick Rose Flu"
But @RFeltonGBMS is rolling with Jalen because of how he won and built up the knicks after… pic.twitter.com/qERgwbYkvg
Why are we even arguing about this?”
Others pushed back. “If Rose played with the stacked Knicks, he'd win a ring and Finals MVP too,” wrote @danhurleyuconn.
Another response said, “If we're strictly debating raw, unteachable talent, Derrick Rose is miles ahead of Brunson. Jalen is nice, but we gotta acknowledge he walked into the perfect situation with a squad built specifically for him,” commented @OnlyRealLeft.
Brunson, now 30 and heading into his ninth season, will do so with one clear goal in mind: defend the title. If he wins another ring, he would strengthen his case as a top-10 point guard in NBA history.
The Brunson-Rose connection goes back years. Brunson grew up looking up to Rose, and he even rebounded for him during a workout when his father, Knicks assistant coach Rick Brunson, was still with the Chicago Bulls.
Felton’s own Knicks run gives him some perspective here. He had two separate stints in New York, and in the 2010-2011 season he put up career highs of 17.1 points, 9.0 assists and 1.2 steals.
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