Bernstein: Derrick Rose Starts Bulls' Season On Strange Note
By Dan Bernstein--
CBSChicago.com senior columnist
(CBS) If Bulls point guard Derrick Rose is talking, it means something weird is going on.
The last time we saw him, he was quitting on his team in a playoff game, preferring to pout over his power struggle with teammate Jimmy Butler. Now he's back and ready for 2015, though dogged by a lurid lawsuit and claiming he's focused on his upcoming free agency. Upcoming, as in two full years from now.
Rose needs money, it seems, to hear how he describes his focus on that next contract. The $300 million already committed to him by his team and Adidas isn't enough to provide peace of mind for his family, so Rose says, "As far as you see all the money they're passing out in this league -- just telling the truth -- and knowing my day will be coming up soon. It's for P.J. and his future, so that's what I'm thinking about right now."
You can read the money comment as a sideswipe at Butler's five-year, $95-million extension -- just telling the truth. And media day for an NBA contender is an interesting time to choose to talk about how you can't wait to be available to other teams.
What's more, Rose brought it all up on his own, meandering into it while answering a question about the effect of the lawsuit that alleges he and two friends drugged and gang-raped a woman in Los Angeles. Rose didn't seem to understand that this isn't a criminal case, insisting that he "will be proven innocent."
No, he won't. If the case is tried and decided, he will either be found liable for damages or not.
In denying the incident, Rose was still unclear as to whether all the other creepy behavior detailed in the claim was true, a description that at least belies his insistence that he lives the quiet life of a doting father. Of the suit, Rose said, "The devil is working."
It's one day in, and already we're reminded that so much about Derrick Rose has become odd and uncomfortable.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Boers and Bernstein Show" in afternoon drive. Follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.
