O.J. Mayo Made D. Rose
Rose shared a story of how a young Mayo made him work harder.
If you look at Derrick Rose’s NBA career versus O.J. Mayo’s career, you would’ve never believed that Rose once looked up to and chased Mayo.
The two players entered the NBA in 2008, with Rose being selected first by the Chicago Bulls and Mayo third by the Memphis Grizzlies.
The two guards were key contributors on their team and were the top rookies in the league.
However, Rose slightly outperformed Mayo (the former averaged 16.8 points and 6.3 rebounds & the latter averaged 18.5 points and 3.2 assists) and won the Rookie of the Year Award.
Additionally, Rose went on to accomplish much more than Mayo, winning the MVP title and playing for multiple All-Star teams.
But when the two guards were younger, Rose thought Mayo was so skilled that he felt he wasn’t training enough.
On the Club520 podcast, Rose told Jeff Teague that after he watched and competed against Mayo, Mayo became his baseline for what a good basketball player should be.
“Like, when we was in the room talking about O.J., when I seen him for the first time, bro, he changed my whole perspective of the game,” Rose said. “[He] made me feel like I wasn’t working hard enough and my whole chase for the shit was like chasing him. So, O.J., you put that battery in my back, for sure… He was on a-whole-nother level and I never forgot that. Like, that’s my baseline right there.”
(If you think about it, Mayo is the reason Rose became the legendary NBA player that he is.)
O.J. Mayo’s Career
In his first two NBA seasons, Mayo looked like he was on track to be a star.
He averaged 18 points on 44.8 percent, 3.1 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 164 games.
But after being benched for his tardiness and some off-court mishaps in his third NBA season, his performance took a dive.
He played out the remainder of his rookie contract with Memphis, but left for Dallas in his fifth year.
His numbers re-climbed with the Mavericks, but it was mainly because their star player, Dirk Nowitzki, sat out the first 27 games.
Once Nowitzki returned and got his groove back, Mayo’s numbers dropped. However, he still had a good season.
Mayo left Dallas after that season and played out the remainder of his career with Milwaukee, where he struggled due to conditioning, minor injuries, and a multi-year suspension for a drug violation.
He essentially retired from the NBA after the 2015-16 season.
After he was unable to sign with an NBA team, Mayo went overseas to play. He most recently played for the Egyptian Basketball Super League in 2024-25.