Earlier this evening, the New York Knicks PR team tweeted the announcement that Brandon Jennings would start tonight's game against the New Orleans Pelicans. The reason they gave was pretty strange.
https://twitter.com/NY_KnicksPR/status/818616668981182464
"Not with the team"...care to elaborate on that? No?
The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski, who knows everything about everyone in the NBA ten minutes before it happens, gave the Twitterverse an update moments ago. Surely he'll have an answer for us.
https://twitter.com/WojVerticalNBA/status/818636159207276545
Ian Begley, who covers the Knicks for ESPN, confirmed that a team official was unable to reach Rose before the game.
https://twitter.com/IanBegley/status/818642468597952512
Apparently nobody knows why Rose is absent from tonight's game. That is incredibly odd, unless the Knicks are aware of his whereabouts and are choosing to not reveal that information for some reason. Wojnarowski followed his initial tweet with more information and a hypothetical answer to the mystery.
https://twitter.com/WojVerticalNBA/status/818640104021524480
Could Rose be refusing to show up to his game as an act of defiance after being benched? That doesn't seem quite in line with his character. As Bulls fans know all too well, Rose may put his foot in his mouth from time to time. But he's not that much of a selfish drama queen.
It could turn out to be nothing, but this is very strange. You rarely hear of professional athletes being M.I.A. for a game with no knowledge of why they're absent.
***UPDATE: Following the conclusion of tonight's game, Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek declined to comment on the Rose situation, saying he didn't have enough information.
https://twitter.com/nyknicks/status/818652638392811524
Hornacek did elaborate a bit further, implying that everything will make sense in the near future once the team handles the situation.
https://twitter.com/Mike_Vorkunov/status/818653107303436289
At least it sounds like at the very least Rose is fine and unharmed in the sense of present danger.
***UPDATE: Joakim Noah, Rose's longtime teammate and friend, assured the media after the game that Derrick is okay. Here's video of Noah speaking to the press about Rose:
https://twitter.com/NotoriousOHM/status/818662428451962882
If the mystery remains "where is Derrick?", Chicagoans just might be spotting him around town tonight or tomorrow. Frank Isola of the New York Daily News:
https://twitter.com/FisolaNYDN/status/818663992214306816
That could mean Rose is simply attending to a family matter, but that can't be confirmed at this time.
Sports Mockery will keep you up to speed with any pertinent updates or breaking news on this matter. Follow our Bulls beat writer @Bulls_Peck for the latest.
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