Derrick Rose was the first guard drafted first overall in the NBA draft since Allen Iverson in 1996. The Philadelphia 76ers selected Iverson first overall out of Georgetown in 1996, and the Chicago Bulls selected Rose first overall from Memphis in 2008.
Iverson was a six-foot point guard whose speed, ball-handling, and scoring made him an unusual choice in an era when teams often favored much larger players with the top pick. He won Rookie of the Year in 1997 and eventually became an 11-time All-Star and a Basketball Hall of Famer.
Rose followed a similar path as a dynamic lead guard. The Chicago native led Memphis to the 2008 NCAA championship game before entering the NBA. In 2011, he became the youngest NBA Most Valuable Player at age 22. The wording can cause confusion because “guard” includes both point guards and shooting guards; in this comparison, both Iverson and Rose were primarily point guards.