Derrick Rose Rejoins Knicks, Is Fined For Missing Game
GREENBURGH, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Knicks point guard Derrick Rose returned to practice with a lighter wallet Tuesday, a day after he was a no-show for a game.
The Knicks announced they have fined the former league MVP and that he is expected to be in uniform for Wednesday night's game at Philadelphia. The team did not say how much Rose was fined.
Rose told reporters he returned to his hometown of Chicago on Monday to be with his mother.
"Things happen," he said.
"It was personal. I put it on myself for not telling the Knicks. I am not perfect. I apologized to the team."
Rose insisted that his absence had nothing to do with basketball and denied there is any rift between him and head coach Jeff Hornacek.
He said he didn't want to pick up his phone when the Knicks called him Monday night, saying he needed "space" at the time, Newsday reported. He said he spoke to general manager Steve Mills by phone later in the evening and that he met with Mills and team president Phil Jackson when he returned to the Knicks' facility Tuesday.
Without Rose in the lineup, the Knicks lost to the New Orleans Pelicans 110-96 at Madison Square Garden, their eighth defeat in their last nine games.
ESPN reported that the team had been so concerned when Rose did not show up at the arena that it sent a staffer to check on him at his apartment in New York.
Rose, who was acquired in a June trade with the Bulls, is averaging 17.3 points, 4.5 assists and 3.9 rebounds in 33 games this season.
