New York Knicks president Phil Jackson kind of addressed the subject of Derrick Rose’s upcoming sexual assault trial on Friday. In a press conference, the Knicks president told reporters that the team was “not concerned” about it, via ESPN’s Ian Begley:
“One thing I’d like to address is about Derrick Rose and the process he’s going through,” Jackson said at the beginning of his season-opening press conference. “We anticipate it will not affect his season hopefully, training camp or games.
“But we’re going to let the due process of the justice system work its way through here in the next week and a half or so. We want to put this to rest. There doesn’t need to be a lot of talk about this.”
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“I think we’re just going to let the process work itself out,” Jackson said when asked about the possibility of Rose missing training camp. “We’re not concerned with it. We understand this is a serious subject we’re talking about. But this has to be done outside of our control. It’s something we can’t control. Derrick has expressed that he’s not concerned with it. I mean, he’s quite aware of it. It’s not keeping him up at night. So we’re going with that, OK?”
Of course the team doesn’t want there to be a lot of talk about this. Unfortunately for Jackson, though, that’s not something he can control. This is a former NBA MVP facing a civil case with some allegedly awful details. That’s going to be a story.
The suit was filed 13 months ago. Jackson’s front office was aware of this when it acquired Rose in a trade in June. He has declined, however, to say how deeply the team looked into the case at the time. When he and general manager Steve Mills were directly asked about this on Friday, Jackson did not answer the question. And when Jackson decided that he was done discussing Rose, he asked reporters not to ask more questions about it, per the New York Post’s Marc Berman, adding, “Have we covered it?”
While Jackson acknowledged that “this is a serious subject,” his comments do little to quell the concern that the team did not investigate the case like it should have. Fans rightfully want to know what his thought process was when trading for Rose, and they will want to hear from Rose, too. On Monday, Rose will have to take questions as part of the Knicks’ media day.
If Rose and his accuser do not reach a settlement, then the case will go to trial on Oct. 4. That is the same day as New York’s first preseason game in Houston.
Courtesy: CBS Sports
