Cleveland Cavaliers guard Derrick Rose has plenty of memories from the one season he suited up for the New York Knicks. Not all of those are something Rose would gladly reminisce about, however.
Just like his knees, Rose’s brief stint with the Knicks was a shaky one if you ask the 2011 NBA MVP.
In an interview with Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press, Rose candidly spoke about the difficulty of understanding the complexities of the system that the Knicks were trying to run, which was mostly centered on the ever-confounding Triangle Offense forced onto the team by then team president of basketball operations, Phil Jackson.
“On the court was when it was the craziest to me,” Rose said. “Some of the strategies and all that, I didn’t understand. It was confusing. It was just a learning experience.”
Despite his admitted struggle to follow the system, Rose’s numbers didn’t seem to reflect his confusion. In one year for the Knicks, Rose saw a rejuvenation of sorts, as the oft-injured guard posted averages of 18.0 points, 4.4 assists, 3.8 rebounds, while shooting 47.1 percent from the floor. But if there’s any more Rose would rather see left behind in the Big Apple, it’s likely his poor 3-point accuracy in 2016, when he shot just 21.7 percent from deep.
Now with the Cavs, Derrick Rose has a legitimate shot at the NBA title that has long eluded him. He’s just 28 years old, but with a vulnerable body that seems to grow more susceptible to injuries each passing season, Rose hopes that his time with the Cavs will be way better than the one he had in New York.