Rose on Bulls Tension: “There's Nothing Going On”

Chicago Sun-Times report says there's growing tension between Rose's management and Bulls brass

Derrick Rose is down playing reports of a rift between his support team and Bulls brass.

The Chicago Sun-Times posted a story Thursday outlining growing tension between Rose's management team -- particularly his brother Reggie and agent B.J. Armstrong -- and the Bulls. The report also quoted Rose admitting that he knew of some of the tension, even if he didn't witness it himself.

Rose told ESPN Friday that he spoke with Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf to clear the air.

"It was fine, he told me don't worry about it, just stay focused, and like I said it's the past and these things are going to happen," Rose said.

Reinsdorf blasted the newspaper story as "irresponsible" and said he was "disappointed that unnamed sources and totally inaccurate statements and assumptions can be used to foment nonexistent friction."

The report says the Bulls were upset over "shots" Rose's camp took at management, going all the way back to February 2013 when Reggie Rose criticized them for not making moves to help the team at the trading deadline.

More recently, the newspaper cites Bulls sources as saying that Rose had to be coaxed to even speak to Carmelo Anthony when the free agent visited to Chicago, and were "irate" he didn't attend a dinner to help woo him.

But Rose reiterated Friday that everything is fine in his relationship with the team while also admitting there were issues in the past.

"It's funny just hearing so many stories about what's going on and they're coming out of nowhere, so it's funny to hear about them, but there's nothing going on," Rose told ESPN. "Everybody who came here, Gar, Pax, everyone that came here they showed love, so for someone to just write something or throw something out there that's not true ... it's kind of like hating kind of, because so much positive is going on and you want to just write the one article and stir up something, and that's something that we don't need. At the same time, it's the past, it's behind us and I talked to Jerry already so I'm not worried about it."

Rose said "Jerry is cool" and he's able to reach and talk to the owner whenever he wants to.

Rose is currently trying out for the U.S.A. basketball team in Las Vegas, and by all accounts, seems to have fully recovered from his knee injuries.

Contact Us