Rape case not keeping Rose up at night: Phil
There’s a $21.5 million rape lawsuit and further details about Derrick Rose’s participation in an alleged gang rape that go public if this goes to trial in less than two weeks.
But, according to Knicks president Phil Jackson, Rose isn’t losing any sleep over the allegations from “Jane Doe” or the potential repercussions.
“Derrick has expressed that he’s not concerned with it,” Jackson said Friday. “I mean, he’s quite aware of it. It’s not keeping him up at night. So we’re going with that, okay?”
Jackson seemed to have a directive to avoid discussing the rape allegations, saying in his opening statement, “We want to put this to rest. There doesn’t need to be a lot of talk about this. Concerns about how our team is going to fit together are some of the biggest priorities for us.”
When reporters followed up with questions about the Knicks’ investigation into these allegations and the potential for Rose to miss training camp, Jackson said the organization is powerless.
“I think we’re just going to let the process work itself out. We’re not concerned with it,” Jackson said. “We understand this is a serious subject we’re talking about. But this has to be done outside of our control. It’s something we can’t control.”
Rose could miss a good chunk of preseason if, barring a settlement, this goes to trial on the scheduled Oct. 4 date in L.A. But when Jackson acquired Rose in a trade for Robin Lopez and Jerian Grant in June — which was before most of the damaging details of the case surfaced — the team president implied this case wasn’t a big consideration.“We’re aware of it,” he said in June. “Investigation is a big word.”
Lawyers for “Jane Doe,” whose identity will be revealed at the trial, told the Daily News that neither the Knicks nor the NBA ever reached out to hear their side of the story. On Friday, Jackson finally cut off the questions about the alleged rape.
“Everybody all right on that guys? Anybody else? No more? We covered?” he said.
According to the lawsuit filed by the 30-year-old “Jane Doe,” Rose and his two friends, Ryan Allen and Randall Hampton, broke into the intoxicated woman’s apartment and raped her about three years ago. Rose’s defense team has called the lawsuit a lie and an attempt at extortion, painting the “Jane Doe” as promiscuous and sexually-charged.
Rose, while apparently unconcerned with Jane Doe’s allegations, spent much of the summer working out in L.A. before joining the Knicks in N.Y. He is still trying to regain a form closer to his 2011 MVP season, before a rash of injuries disrupted the 27-year-old’s career.
“He’s feeling his body is good,” coach Jeff Hornacek said. “Watching him playing the pickup games that they’ve been playing you see the spurts of quickness that he has. He’s got a lot of energy, he looks like he’s in great shape. Things he’s done over the summer to prepare himself, he always felt like through the injuries, especially the last bunch of years, that he hasn’t been able to really get ready for the start of the season. So basketball-wise, he’s ready to go.”
The big question, which wasn’t answered Friday, is whether he’ll be ready based on reasons outside of basketball.