Derrick Rose was seen at Knicks practice Tuesday after his unscheduled and unannounced absence from the team Monday during their loss to the Pelicans. The team then announced Rose would be fined and will be available to play Wednesday against Philadelphia.
Just saw Derrick Rose at the Knicks facility with Knicks GM Steve Mills. Seemed like he was in good spirits.
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) January 10, 2017
Practice pic.twitter.com/IAtoGBc2jR
— NY_KnicksPR (@NY_KnicksPR) January 10, 2017
Derrick Rose has rejoined the team and has been fined. He is expected to be in uniform tomorrow in Philadelphia.
— NY_KnicksPR (@NY_KnicksPR) January 10, 2017
Rose told the media that his absence was purely about a family issue and had nothing to do with basketball concerns. He said he apologized to the team.
Derrick Rose said his absence was a family issue and had nothing to do with basketball.
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) January 10, 2017
Derrick Rose: "Things happen."
— Frank Isola (@FisolaNYDN) January 10, 2017
"It was personal - I put it on myself for not telling the #Knicks - I am not perfect - I apologized to team!" pic.twitter.com/3MuXUpzzNh
— Bruce Beck (@BruceBeck4NY) January 10, 2017
Derrick Rose said he returned to Chicago because he needed to be with his mother.
— Al Iannazzone (@Al_Iannazzone) January 10, 2017
There's still consternation about the circumstances of Rose's departure. Not informing the team of his situation, even in an emergency, is very much avoidable and out of character for most players. That it comes during a time when the Knicks are reeling -- and Yahoo Sports reported that Rose and coach Jeff Hornacek had a disagreement after the team's loss over the weekend -- doesn't help matters.
But just because something unfortunate occurred in Rose's personal life during a time when the team is struggling doesn't invalidate his concern. Yes, a simple text message to Knicks officials would have helped avoid the whole situation and near-panic of Monday night (as it was reported Knicks officials went to Rose's home out of concern for not having heard from him), but Rose clearly wasn't in a good place mentally.
Of course, then, there's this.
Rose said he didn't want to pick up the phone when Knicks called. He needed his "space."
— Al Iannazzone (@Al_Iannazzone) January 10, 2017
It's good that whatever the situation was with Rose, he feels good enough to return to the team, and hopefully they can both put this episode behind them. The overall drama of another Knicks season starting to turn into sewage, however, is another concern altogether.