The Great Derrick Rose Mystery has been solved.
...kind of.
The former Bulls point guard and NBA MVP rejoined his New York Knicks team at their practice on Tuesday morning. As expected, there was a sea of reporters waiting for him after he mysteriously
didn't show up for the Knicks' game against the Pelicans last night.
Family Matters
According to Rose, his absence last night had nothing to do with a
reported rift between he and Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek after a recent 4th quarter benching. In fact, Derrick denied that such a rift exists.
Knicks reporter Al Iannazzone of
Newsday Sports:
https://twitter.com/Al_Iannazzone/status/818896305493778432
So where was Rose when he went AWOL last night? At home, with his mom.
https://twitter.com/Al_Iannazzone/status/818894614769922048
As for those reports last night from Adrian Wojnarowski and
The Vertical stating team officials were unsuccessful in reaching Rose? Here's his explanation for that:
https://twitter.com/Al_Iannazzone/status/818895649068433410
It's still unclear what exactly made Rose feel like it was necessary to fly home immediately. He didn't make any mention of the current health of his mother, Brenda Rose. Brenda raised Derrick and his brothers by herself, and the two are incredibly close. That was movingly evident in his 2011 MVP acceptance speech.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1V0NEIrXNw#t=5m00s
Tough Times
Perhaps it was Derrick
who needed the comforting from his mother, rather than the other way around. The Chicago native is having trouble adjusting to life in New York. According to K.C. Johnson of the
Chicago Tribune, being away from his son P.J. has been difficult.
https://twitter.com/KCJHoop/status/818834816569372673
Here's video from a segment of Rose's meeting with the media earlier today:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJ_0FmnZCA8
The good news is that after last night's moments of panic from Rose fans and the Knicks organization, he is accounted for and not hurt. The bad news, unfortunately for Rose, is that this is another rough spot in a tough stretch since being traded away from his hometown team last spring. He had to go to court after being accused of gang rape, and the trial took Rose away from his new teammates during training camp. The Knicks appear to be just as lost as the Bulls from a basketball standpoint, and many fans in New York are disappointed in the older version of the former MVP who showed up at The Garden. New York sports media and fans can be just as brutally unforgiving as those in Chicago, if not worse.
Rose's image of humble hometown hero when he first flourished in the NBA is long gone. He's never been great with the media, and this latest episode puts another dent in his public persona. But given the way he ignored his team's phone calls while making his way home to see his mother, that's clearly the last thing on his mind right now.
