BOSTON – Derrick Rose’s best defense of the year may have come Friday morning.
Following the team’s shootaround at the TD Garden, Rose was asked about All-Star voting and his status in the NBA hierarchy as far as fans were concerned, and seemed to have little regard for the process.
“Nope, not at all,’’ Rose said, when asked if he concerned himself with the league’s announcement of the starters on Thursday. “I don’t watch basketball if I’m not playing. I don’t watch it at all.’’
Asked if he knew that he finished seventh, Rose said, “Nah. All-Star is great, huge accomplishment, great accolades, great to have on your resume, but don’t define the player I am or someone is just because of All-Star game.’’
Rose even took it a step further and acknowledged that he didn’t deserve to be voted in by the fans this year or selected by the coaches next week.
“Nah, not at all,’’ Rose said, when asked if he deserved to be in Toronto for All-Star Weekend. “Just the year. I’ve missed too many games. That’s about it.’’
And that’s why he won’t feel slighted, despite the fact that he insisted he was still “great’’ at the start of training camp.
“I don’t care about what people think or say,’’ Rose said. “It’s whatever they say. The only thing I can do is just keep working on my game and keep focusing on what I’ve been focusing on.’’
But the All-Star Game wasn’t the only topic Rose was defensive on. He was also asked about his scoring and where he was as a player right now and said to the reporter, “You can’t see it? What you want me to say it? You can’t see it when I’m out there? I hope so. Whenever I step on the floor, I just try to play my heart out. Try to play aggressive and win a game for one and with the team we’re on, I have to be more vocal as far as becoming a leader.’’
As far as the one player that is vocal on being the leader, Jimmy Butler missed the morning shootaround with flu-like symptoms, and was questionable for tonight’s game against the Celtics.
