Derrick Rose Is Feeling More Love In New York Than He Did In Chicago
(CBS) Derrick Rose is feeling more appreciated following his change of scenery from Chicago to New York this offseason.
In a glowing profile on the NBA Players' Association website, Rose admitted he feels more loved by Knicks fans than he did when he played for the hometown Bulls. He set the scene by describing the drive to his introductory press conference in June with the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, where filmmaker Spike Lee was among the first to greet Rose and told him: "Now you're a Knick and I love you as a player. You're one of my own now."
"I was feeling a lot of love," Rose told nbap.com. "You feel that a little bit in Chicago, but it's not on that level of New York, so it kind of makes you anxious to actually get on the court. It's, like, 'Man, they're excited that I'm actually there.' I haven't even picked up a ball yet, I haven't made a basket yet, and I can only imagine how they're going to act when we start winning."
The Bulls traded Rose, Justin Holiday and a 2017 second-round pick to the Knicks on June 22 in a deal that netted them Robin Lopez, Jerian Grant and the since-traded Jose Calderon.
Rose currently has more on his mind to deal with than just basketball. A civil lawsuit has been brought forth by a woman in California alleging Rose and two friends gang raped her in August 2013. That case is set to go to trial Oct. 4 in Los Angeles. Rose says the sex was consensual, while the woman says it wasn't.