Sporting News issues an apology over tweet mocking Derrick Rose’s knees

The Sporting News issued an apology on Thursday for a now deleted tweet mocking Minnesota Timberwolves guard Derrick Rose’s knees after reporting that Rose announced that he’s starting a scholarship program that will award more than $400,000 to high school students.

The deleted tweet from Tuesday said, “*knees not included,” a take on Rose’s inability to stay healthy since his ACL knee injury during the 2012 NBA Playoffs.

The tweet posted Thursday morning states:

“Sporting News has deleted a tweet regarding Derrick Rose’s scholarship fund that was in poor taste. We regret the tweet and sincerely apologize to our fans and especially to Derrick Rose for not giving him and his philanthropic contributions the respect they deserve.”

Adam Howes, a self-described NBA historian, discovered the original tweet.

And here’s the tweet from the Sporting News’ NBA account from Wednesday.

Rose, an Englewood native, has a history of philanthropy.

In 2013, Rose offered to pay for the funeral of a 6-month-old who killed in a shooting.

A year later, he donated $1 million to After School Matters, a non-profit organization that provide programs for high school students.

Last year, he donated $7,000 to man’s GoFundMe account who wanted to walk from Chicago to Washington, D.C. to raise awareness for gun violence.

“The program is open to high school sophomore, junior + senior students who are civically minded and have an instinct to lead,” the Rose Scholars website states.

The program will award one student up to $200,000, which works out to $25,000 each semester for four years.