On October 30, 2010, in the Bulls' second game of the season, Rose scored 39 points in a 10191 win against the Detroit Pistons. Two days after, Rose contributed 13 assists, helping Luol Deng score his career high 40 points in a win against the Portland Trail Blazers.
On December 10, 2010, Rose scored 29 points and had 9 assists, leading the Bulls to their first victory over the Los Angeles Lakers since December 19, 2006.
On January 17, 2011, Derrick Rose finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists recording his first career triple-double against the Memphis Grizzlies.
On January 27, 2011, Rose was announced as a starting guard on the 2011 NBA All-Star Team for the East squad.[74]
On February 17, 2011, in the Bulls' last game before the All-Star break, Derrick Rose recorded a regular-season career high 42 points, along with 8 assists and 5 rebounds, as the Bulls beat the San Antonio Spurs 109-99.
On March 26, 2011, Rose had a career high 17 assists, along with 30 points, and 3 rebounds, in a 95-87 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
At the end of the 201011 NBA season the Bulls finished with a league leading record of 62-20.[75] Their 60+ wins was the Bulls' first since the 1997-98 season and sixth 60+ win in the team's franchise history.[76]
At season's end, Rose became only the third player in the past thirty years of the NBA to record 2,000 points and 600 assists in a single season. The other two players were LeBron James and Michael Jordan.[77]
On May 3, 2011, Rose, at the age of 22, was named the NBA Most Valuable Player, surpassing Wes Unseld as the youngest player in league history to receive the award (Unseld won the award during the 1968-69 NBA season at age 23). Rose joined Michael Jordan as the only players to receive the award in Chicago Bulls history.[78]
In the 2011 NBA Playoffs, the Bulls defeated the Indiana Pacers and Atlanta Hawks in the first two rounds. In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Bulls faced the Miami Heat, led by their three All-Stars LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. The Bulls lost the series in five games. During the 2011 playoffs, Rose averaged 27.1 points per game, but only shot 39% from the field and 24% for three pointers.