Derrick Rose might not have gotten the kind of contract he was expecting this offseason, signing a one-year, $2.1M deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers this offseason, but ahead of his first campaign with the club, the ex-Bulls and Knicks point guard said he is happy and in a better place with both his game and his mindset.
According to Rose, he was in a "dark place" in terms of how he was playing basketball the past few seasons. Via ESPN:
"I was in a dark place years ago, man," Rose said Saturday. "By a dark place, I mean, I was playing, like, revenge basketball, and that wasn't my way of playing basketball.
"I enjoy competing, but when I came back it was about just trying to get back to the top and proving everybody wrong. Like, I know who I am as a man, I know who I am as a player or person. There's no point in doing that anymore. It's just being secure as a person and knowing who I am."
"I get to play my game," Rose said. "Before I made it to the league I think I was a facilitator. The NBA made me into a scorer. I had to score my first year with the Bulls, and I think you'll be able to see my passing abilities once I'm here. My job is to facilitate, be aggressive at the same time, be a threat always when I get the ball."
Per reports, Rose was impressive during the Cavs' unofficial mini camp in California a few weeks ago. The Cavs, though, will be hoping his play, as well as his new and improved attitude translates to the regular season.
With Kyrie Irving gone to the Boston Celtics and Isaiah Thomas unlikely to play for the first few months of the season, Cleveland will be more reliant on Rose than it probably expected when it signed him back in July.
However he ends up playing, hopefully Rose will be able to stay happy with himself. Even if it was just in a basketball sense, it's never good to hear that someone felt they were in a "dark place."
