Derrick Rose isn’t playing “revenge basketball” anymore, and says he’s moved out of the “dark place” his career had entered.
Derrick Rose is moving past his days of "revenge basketball."
Full story on his new beginning: https://t.co/uak4J0lavg pic.twitter.com/VQ7YMNNiLb
— ESPN (@espn) October 1, 2017
Rose, 28, admits that his main motivation on the court the last few years, had been to prove his post-injury critics wrong.
The former MVP says he’s ready to embrace the role of distributor in Cleveland.
Per ESPN:
“I was in a dark place years ago, man,” Rose said Saturday. “By a dark place, I mean, I was playing, like, revenge basketball, and that wasn’t my way of playing basketball.
“I enjoy competing, but when I came back it was about just trying to get back to the top and proving everybody wrong. Like, I know who I am as a man, I know who I am as a player or person. There’s no point in doing that anymore. It’s just being secure as a person and knowing who I am.”
Rose was the Cavs’ standout performer at the team’s minicamp in Santa Barbara, California, multiple sources told ESPN. Rose is resolute on not just demonstrating that he can still play individually, instead showing that he can play in the manner in which Cleveland needs him to as a distributor.
“I get to play my game,” Rose said. “Before I made it to the league I think I was a facilitator. The NBA made me into a scorer. I had to score my first year with the Bulls, and I think you’ll be able to see my passing abilities once I’m here. My job is to facilitate, be aggressive at the same time, be a threat always when I get the ball.”
