A big reason Rose won the 2010-11 MVP title was the hate that followed LeBron James to the Miami Heat. He had a good chance of winning the award (more on that later), but there’s no avoiding that LeBron’s move was a factor.

The honor also had a lot to do with the overall strength of the Rose’s Bulls.

Chicago went 62-20, the best record in the NBA. The team led the league in points allowed per 100 possessions. And they had one of the NBA’s four best core players in Rose, Carlos Boozer, Luol Deng and Joakim Noah, three of whom were under the age of 26 (with Boozer being the outlier at 29).

When Rose hoisted the MVP trophy in 2011, it seemed as if Chicago would be at or near the top of the title contenders for the foreseeable future.

However, due to injuries, he only played 39 games the following season. The infamous knee injury occurred in the postseason.

Suddenly, the Bulls were without their offensive engine and best player for the entire 2012-13 season and much of the three years after that.

From the start of the 2011-12 season until Westbrook left for the Knicks, they still ranked seventh in the NBA in winning percentage, but it was much harder to buy them as real contenders. If Rose’s hitting, playmaking and finishing skills had always been a part of this series, Chicago could have easily won a title. The team was there Great of the East before the 2011 playoffs.

Instead of getting there, the Bulls have struggled through mediocrity and change for much of the last decade.