Kidd, Rondo or Rose – Who is best? Scalabrine explains

Brian Scalabrine may have spent the majority of his 11-year NBA career waiting to be put into the game, but that time on the pine gave the 6’9 power forward a courtside seat to watch three of the greatest point guards of the last decade.

The former Net, Celtic and Bull was able to watch from mere feet away as first Jason Kidd, then Rajon Rondo and finally, Derrick Rose, torched the league in their own unique way. Kidd and Rondo share the same capacity to generate triple-doubles, while Rose is a pure scoring machine, all of which begs the tricky question ‘Who was the best point guard you played with?’

But credit Scal, during an informative conference call with English media earlier this week, he not only took on the task of naming the best PG (which is like answering which of your children you love the most), he answered it with conviction.

“When I played with Jason Kidd, he had the ability to make everybody around him so much better,” said the former-player-turned-TV-commentator, who played on the Nets with Kidd from ’01-’05. “It was in his prime. He probably should have won the MVP that year, so I’m looking at him from that year.

“Then I also had the opportunity to play with Rajon Rondo who, in and of himself, and Jason Kidd are both very similar in the way that they make players around them better. Jason is probably a better defensive player and his will is pretty sick as far as his will to win at the end of a game.”

The man now known as the ‘White Mamba‘, was drafted by the New Jersey Nets in 2001, the same year that Kidd joined the organisation, the same season that the franchise doubled their win total from the previous season (26 to 52), won the Atlantic Division title and Conference Crown as they made their first Finals appearance in the NBA. Kidd averaged 14.9ppg, 9.9 apg, 7.3rpg and 2.1spg that season, finishing runner-up in the MVP race with many feeling he should have won the trophy due to the enormity of his impact. And just because he could, he led the Nets back to the NBA Finals the following year too. Both times they fell short.

Rajon Rondo joined the Celtics in Scal’s second year with the club, spending much of his initial year playing as a reserve point guard. But in just his second season in the league and with future Hall of Famer’s, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen now taking up positions in the starting five, Rondo too, was moved into a starter’s role. He averaged a healthy 10.6ppg, 5.1apg and 4.2rpg as the Celtics lifted the 2007/8 NBA Championship. And over the next two seasons, Rondo showed yet more improvement, upping both his scoring and his assists per game, by almost 3 points and 5 dimes respectively, as he helped lead the Celtics to a second 60+ win season and NBA Finals appearance.

For Scalabrine though, as impressive as those individual and team achievements were, there is only one winner.

“When it’s all said and done, Derrick Rose won the MVP (2010/11- 25.ppg, 7.7apg and helping the Bulls secure the best record in the league) when I played with him in one of the two years. He will end up being better than all the other point guards when he does come back from his knee injury,” stated the former two-year Bulls forward.

“He has the combination of the athletic ability, the determination, the will, the shooting, the scoring, the pick and roll play…his pick and roll play will continue to get better and the NBA is more of a pick and roll league, so I believe that, even though the season I played with Jason Kidd was the best individual season I’ve ever seen by an NBA player, in terms of helping his team win day-in and day-out, Derrick Rose will be the best basketball player that I’ve ever played with.”

– Live #NBAonSky on Sunday sees Boston Celtics @ Oklahoma City Thunder at 5pm and Chicago Bulls @ Los Angeles Lakers at 7.30pm on Sky Sports 3 and Sky Sports 3 HD