Derrick Rose was officially traded to the New York Knicks on Sunday (February 7), which he addressed in an Instagram post.
Rose seemed excited for his fresh start with the Knicks, writing, "Other hoopers always used to tell me that if I ever had the chance to play in the MECCA go for it. I’m getting a second chance.... Got to make this one count. But I'm built for it. What’s Pooh spelled backwards???? The sh*t just in my blood."
Rose previously played with the Knicks during the 2016-17 season, but they choose not to re-sign him after Steve Mills took over for as president for ousted Phil Jackson before free agency. Rose wrote about how the experience hurt him in his 2019 autobiography.
He wrote, "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."
