Derrick Rose Not Bothered By John Calipari's Comments On His Lack Of Pain Tolerance

(CBS) Bulls point guard Derrick Rose indicated Wednesday night that he had no problem with the comments that his college coach, John Calipari, made earlier in the day about Rose's low pain tolerance.

"No, no, no," Rose said when asked if that was bothersome. "He's like a father figure to me. I talk to Cal at least twice a month. So to hear that from him, it's nothing. It's nothing at all."

Earlier Wednesday in an interview on the "The Herd with Colin Cowherd," Calipari shared his belief that Rose is sensitive to pain. Rose, of course, has a long injury history that includes three major knee surgeries, which kept him out of the entire 2012-'13 season, all but 10 games in 2013-'14 and for about six weeks in 2014-'15.

"I coached Derrick, so here's what I know," Calipari said. "He will defer to his team. Now I will say this, and he knows this, he doesn't have a real high pain threshold. So that, he's one of those guys, and while he's getting injured, he knows, 'I gotta be right.'

"When you're an athlete like Derrick Rose, it is really important that you're healthy. He's ... beating you with speed, with explosiveness. And if I'm the Bulls, I don't want him at 70 percent. We gotta get him at a 100. But it was a freak hit to his eye."

Rose played under Calipari at Memphis in 2007-'08, when they led the Tigers to an appearance in the national championship game. The two still maintain a close relationship.

Now at Kentucky, Calipari received a visit from Rose when his Wildcats had a shootaround at the United Center ahead of playing in the Champions Classic in Chicago in November.

Plagued in part by double vision following Sept. 29 surgery on a fractured left orbital, Rose is shooting a career-worst 34.3 percent. Rose has been durable this season, playing in 14 of 16 games. He missed two with a sprained ankle.

In:
• Derrick Rose
• John Calipari