Derrick Rose is facing an upcoming civil trial related to an alleged gang rape, but Knicks President Phil Jackson says the case “isn’t keeping [Rose] up at night.”
“We’re not going to really talk about that, we’re just going to let the process work itself out,” Jackson said Friday at the Knicks training facility. “We’re not concerned.
“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 so Derrick has expressed that he’s not concerned about it. I mean, he’s quite aware of it but it’s not keeping him up at night so we’re going to leave it at that.”
The trial is slated to being Oct. 4 in Los Angeles, the same day the Knicks open the preseason in Houston. It remains unclear if Rose will miss any portion of the preseason because of the trial. The Knicks will have their media day on Monday and are set to begin training camp on Wednesday at West Point.
“We anticipate that it will not affect his season, hopefully training camp or games,” Jackson said when repeatedly asked about it. “But we’re to go let the due process of the justice system work its work through here in the next week and a half or so. We want to put this to rest. There doesn’t need to be a lot of talk about this.”
A woman is suing and alleging Rose and two others gang-raped her in 2013. She is suing for $21.5 million and is identified in court papers only as Jane Doe. U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald said this week that she would not be allowed to remain anonymous.
The Knicks are counting on a healthy Rose to help lead them to the playoffs after a three-year drought.
“He’s doing some yoga stuff so he’s feeling that his body is good,” Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said, adding that there would be no minutes restriction on Rose to start. “Watching the pickup games they’ve been having, he looks like he’s in great shape, he’s got great energy and I think things he’s done over the summer to prepare himself…Basketball-wise he’s ready to go.”
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