Earlier this evening, the New York Knicks PR team tweeted the announcement that Brandon Jennings would start tonight’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans. The reason they gave was pretty strange.
Brandon Jennings is starting tonight versus @PelicansNBA – Derrick Rose is not with the team.
— NY_KnicksPR (@NY_KnicksPR) January 10, 2017
“Not with the team”…care to elaborate on that? No?
The Vertical‘s Adrian Wojnarowski, who knows everything about everyone in the NBA ten minutes before it happens, gave the Twitterverse an update moments ago. Surely he’ll have an answer for us.
Sources: There are team officials, teammates and close associates unclear of reason for Derrick Rose's absence for Knicks-Pelicans at MSG.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) January 10, 2017
Ian Begley, who covers the Knicks for ESPN, confirmed that a team official was unable to reach Rose before the game.
At least one team official who tried to reach Derrick Rose before the game on Monday was unable to do so, league sources told ESPN.
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) January 10, 2017
Apparently nobody knows why Rose is absent from tonight’s game. That is incredibly odd, unless the Knicks are aware of his whereabouts and are choosing to not reveal that information for some reason. Wojnarowski followed his initial tweet with more information and a hypothetical answer to the mystery.
As you'd expect, sources say Rose was unhappy with fourth quarter benching on Friday in Milwaukee — but unclear if that's impacted absence.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) January 10, 2017
Could Rose be refusing to show up to his game as an act of defiance after being benched? That doesn’t seem quite in line with his character. As Bulls fans know all too well, Rose may put his foot in his mouth from time to time. But he’s not that much of a selfish drama queen.
It could turn out to be nothing, but this is very strange. You rarely hear of professional athletes being M.I.A. for a game with no knowledge of why they’re absent.
***UPDATE: Following the conclusion of tonight’s game, Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek declined to comment on the Rose situation, saying he didn’t have enough information.
Hornacek on Derrick Rose: "Right now we don't have enough information to give you anything." #NYKvsNOP #Knicks
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) January 10, 2017
Hornacek did elaborate a bit further, implying that everything will make sense in the near future once the team handles the situation.
Hornacek said Knicks expect him back. Says he can't say any more. "We’re not going to go into it. Everything will become clear later on."
— Mike Vorkunov (@Mike_Vorkunov) January 10, 2017
At least it sounds like at the very least Rose is fine and unharmed in the sense of present danger.
***UPDATE: Joakim Noah, Rose’s longtime teammate and friend, assured the media after the game that Derrick is okay. Here’s video of Noah speaking to the press about Rose:
Joakim Noah spoke to Derrick Rose and says Rose is OK. But Knicks players sound like they went into game really not knowing where Rose was. pic.twitter.com/YtfHRfFWqB
— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) January 10, 2017
If the mystery remains “where is Derrick?”, Chicagoans just might be spotting him around town tonight or tomorrow. Frank Isola of the New York Daily News:
There are strong indications that Derrick Rose returned to his hometown of Chicago.
— Frank Isola (@FisolaNYDN) January 10, 2017
That could mean Rose is simply attending to a family matter, but that can’t be confirmed at this time.
Sports Mockery will keep you up to speed with any pertinent updates or breaking news on this matter. Follow our Bulls beat writer @Bulls_Peck for the latest.
