Derrick Rose was a having a season of resurgence with the New York Knicks. Though the losses were piling up, Rose was having himself a great individual season. He was healthy, moving well, and putting up productive and efficient numbers for the Knicks.
One day in January 2017, Rose suddenly no-showed a game. Nobody knew where he went. Apparently, Rose decided to go home. However, he didn't inform anyone from the Knicks organization, not his teammates, not his coaches or anyone in the front office.
The 2011 NBA MVP finally opened up about what happened on that fateful day and explained why he did what he did in “I'll Show You,” a piece he coauthored with Sam Smith, according to an excerpt published by The New York Post.
When I left the Knicks that day in January 2017, that’s what it was about. I just needed to go home.
I went to the crib with my mom. Everybody came over to the house to talk. That’s the first time, one of the few times, where we sat down as a whole family and had a serious discussion like that.
I had decided I was done playing. I saw the same thing that was happening with the Bulls was going on with New York. I could tell that the season wasn’t going to be the season everyone thought, that I thought. I didn’t know if I wanted to hoop anymore. Especially when it started to feel like a business. Of course, you know it’s a business. They always say that. But you know it’s also hoopin’. But it had started to feel like all business, no joy. That’s when I wanted out. I wasn’t having fun.
Rose certainly stirred up the headlines at the time when he just suddenly went home without any kind of notice. Questions about his professionalism arose.
In hindsight, Rose admitted he should have informed someone. However, it appears like he doesn't regret anything he did.
As he explained, the former no. 1 overall pick was going through tough times mentally. Rose had already gone through difficult times through that point of his career. He had been dealing with injuries for a lengthy period of time and obviously, the constant grind of rehabbing, getting injured again, and going back to rehab and recovery got to his mind. Moreover, he had some on-going off-court issues during those times.
To add to that, he experienced immense heartbreak in the 2016 off-season when the Bulls parted ways with him. It certainly didn't help that he landed on a messy Knicks organization that didn't have its act together.
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