What, Exactly, Is Derrick Rose Supposed To Say? Does It Even Matter?
The New York Knicks PG is answering reporters’ questions again, but “how he says it” seems to trump what he actually says.
Since being traded to the New York Knicks in one of the summer’s biggest blockbusters, Derrick Rose has — on two occasions now — taken an odd and optimistic view of his new team’s potential trajectory for the 2016–17 season.
Athletes being confident, perhaps to a fault, prior to the start of a new season is normal. Rose clearly believes in the team Phil Jackson has assembled in Gotham, but his perspective doesn’t match those of the vast majority of sports fans or analysts. When that happens, especially in a market like the Big Apple, people jump all over it. Rose may very well be incorrect in his assessment of the Knicks’ roster, but what do his critics really want him to say in these interviews?
In truth, fans, writers and analysts want Rose to slip up ever so slightly, so posts like these can exist. A “Rose is talking up the Knicks again” soundbite is a win for sports media outlets. Nick DePaula, the author of the original story that appeared on The Vertical, probably knew when Rose said what he said that it would get picked up around the internet.
Not Rose’s account of how getting traded from his hometown Chicago Bulls impacted him and his family; not Rose’s new, futuristic sneakers ; not even the story behind Rose’s decision to wear No. 25 in New York.
1,300 words, and what everyone will remember is that Rose believes the Knicks have the chance to win every game next season.
Tucked away in the heart of the DePaula piece, however, Rose talks about working with his trainer Rob McClanaghan in Los Angeles, along with several Knicks, and how good his body feels at the present time. For a former superstar whose body has failed him repeatedly, his excitement is understandable. The last few years have obviously taken their toll, both mentally and physically, on the former Bulls centerpiece. It’d be crazy if they hadn’t. Rose was on top of the world just a few seasons ago, but it now feels like forever ago, which is a scary thing for a professional athlete. Father Time is undefeated, and in the case of Derrick Rose, that dreaded inevitably has had a head start.
In reality, the story DePaula tells is a positive, hopeful one. The reader comes away pulling for Rose to return to prominence with the Knicks. Rose was “The Guy” in Chicago. In New York, Rose is one of the guys. If we’ve learned anything from Kevin Durant and LeBron James’ free agency decisions, it’s that players, like any normal human, don’t want to spend the entirety of their careers trying do it without any real help around them. Less will be expected from Rose in New York, especially when you consider what the Knicks were trotting out at point guard last season. No matter what happens, he’s almost certainly going to be an upgrade.
Still, that isn’t what sports radio stations and sports blogs are talking about. Rose is quoted extensively in the piece where he drops several interesting tidbits about where his head is at, but none of that seems to matter. He said too much. The more an athlete gives a journalist, the more likely that same athlete says he something he shouldn’t have.
Without any context, Rose saying, “I think we have a chance to win every game, and in the league, that’s rare,” is worthy of an obnoxious eye-roll. But in actuality, it’s not deserving of one. Rose’s comments to NBA.com’s Lang Whitaker last month were far more eyebrow-raising because Rose seemed to think people — not just Knick fans in his Twitter mentions — were putting the Knicks’ roster on par with the new-look Golden State Warriors.
But that’s not all Rose said.
Rose opined on the Knicks free-agent additions, how the roster is riddled with guys with a chip on their shoulder who want to prove themselves. The quote, in its entirety, was harmless. Jackson added a lot of names, and Rose knows that. He’s excited to join a collective unit that, if healthy, could win a lot of games. Was he wrong in his Warriors comparison? Of course, but fans, analysts and writers loved this quote. It was a 24-hour gift for sports media types. By doing an interview with NBA.com, Rose made an innocent, over-the-top comparison that made him the butt of countless jokes by tons and tons of people.
It’s easy to see why athletes are becoming increasingly hesitant to doing these kind of interviews. We’re waiting for star athletes to make erroneous claims we can joke about for weeks on end. Had Rose not made that one comparison, that interview is probably lost in the shuffle.
Is it really that surprising for Rose to reveal that he looks at this Knicks team — a roster filled with recognizable names — as a potential super team. It seems like everyone wants athletes like Rose to keep talking — but only when he says what they want to hear.
