Derrick Rose: Is the Chicago Bulls Guard Already the Second-Best Bull Ever?

At merely 22 years old, Derrick Rose became the youngest MVP in the history of the NBA. Even Wes Unseld, who won in his rookie campaign, was already 23 by the time he won. When you hear words like "youngest ever," you have to start thinking about things in a historical context. 

Of course, no one is claiming that Rose is already one of the greats. No one expects Rose to be there at such a young age, except for perhaps Kobe and LeBron fanboys who think it's fair to compare careers and skills between guys who have been in the league for far longer.

No, Rose's day is yet to come, but how far has he already risen up the totem pole?

Looking at the Bulls organization, any player is fighting for second place all-time because first place is firmly locked in since the greatest player of all-time played here. Second place, however, is potentially up for grabs.

And there is definitely a case for Rose. He becomes only the second player in Bulls history to win an MVP award, first, obviously, being Jordan. Rose also led his team to their first 60-win season outside of the Jordan era.

Even with all these accomplishments though, Rose still pales in comparison to Scottie Pippen.

Here are Pippen's credentials: six-time NBA champion, seven-time NBA All-Star, three-time All-NBA first-team member, two-time second-team member, two-time third-team member, eight-time All-Defensive first-team member, two-time second-team member and named to the 50 Greatest Players of All-Time list in 1996.

While Rose is wildly talented and has the potential to pass Pippen someday, his resume pales in comparison to Pippen. If we're basing this on individual seasons, yes, Rose's 2010-11 season is better than probably 80 percent of Pippen's seasons, but one season cannot put Rose over the top in this debate.

So what will it take for Rose to surpass Pippen?

Well, for starters, another MVP would propel Rose over Pippen. There was a legitimate case for Pippen in 1993-94 in the full season of Jordan's absence, but there are no two seasons that you can point to and say Pippen should have won MVP.

If Rose can keep up this level of production, even if he never wins it all, he still will likely pass Pippen. Scottie had the luxury of playing next to the Greatest of All-Time: Michael Jordan. It could also help if Rose made a few more All-NBA teams and at least one All-Defensive team, which I expect him to do in the near future as his reputation catches up with his ability.

The ultimate way for Rose to put himself over the top is to win a title as the alpha dog. Say what you will about Pippen being the perfect Robin and doing what he was asked to do, but he never came close to winning without Jordan.

With the emergence of superteams as well like the Heat and Knicks, a championship would be even more impressive. In my opinion, one title from Rose as the lead guy would trump six from Pippen as the second guy.

Right now, we don't know the ceiling for Rose. However, if Rose can keep up his production until he hits 30, or if he wins, there's no reason he can't pass Pippen as the second-greatest Bull of all-time. Of course, number one is unattainable, so please don't even try to bring up that argument.