Point guard Derrick Rose admits he went AWOL on the New York Knicks when he played for them during the 2016-17 season.
The New York Knicks were able to land a superstar point guard for the 2016-17 season. Well, make that a former superstar point guard at the time. Derrick Rose had been battling numerous injuries for years and hadn’t nearly been the MVP he was in 2011 in quite some time.
But the Knicks did indeed get a point guard they could rely on, or so they thought. Rose skipped a game in January of 2017, stating the reason he did so was to spend time with family. Now, Rose is finally explaining the whole situation more than two years later.
“When I left the Knicks that day in January 2017, that’s what it was about,” he said, in a piece with the New York Post this past weekend. “I just needed to go home.
“I went to the crib with my mom. Everybody came over to the house to talk. That’s the first time, one of the few times, where we sat down as a whole family and had a serious discussion like that.
“I had decided I was done playing. I saw the same thing that was happening with the Bulls was going on with New York. I could tell that the season wasn’t going to be the season everyone thought, that I thought. I didn’t know if I wanted to hoop anymore. Especially when it started to feel like a business. Of course, you know it’s a business. They always say that. But you know it’s also hoopin’. But it had started to feel like all business, no joy. That’s when I wanted out. I wasn’t having fun.”
It’s an interesting story. Sort of makes sense when you consider the number of players that don’t want to play for the Knicks. Fans saw it during this past free agency period. Regardless of it being New York and the bright lights and Madison Square Garden, the Knicks aren’t the most attractive team in the NBA. It’s that simple.
Rose played 64 games for the Knicks and averaged 18.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 4.4 assists on 47.1% shooting from the field. He’s spent time with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Minnesota Timberwolves since his departure from New York. Rose is now with the Detroit Pistons.
