Derrick Rose Says He Skipped Out On The Knicks Game To Be With His Family

“It had nothing to do with the team or basketball, but that’s the first time I ever felt like that emotionally, and I had to be with my family,” Derrick Rose told reporters today about his unexplained absence from the Knicks’ game against the Pelicans last night. He said he went back to Chicago yesterday and returned to New York this morning.

When asked why he didn’t inform his team in advance, Rose said, “I just had to get to my family. I talked to [the Knicks] afterwards, everybody’s on the same page now. They understood it right away after I explained myself to them.”

The Knicks said they fined Rose for missing the game—a bleak, blowout loss that saw Carmelo Anthony and Kyle O’Quinn ejected—and expect him to play against the Sixers tomorrow. We’ll update this post if more details become available.

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