New York Knicks point guard Derrick Rose once said he was looking forward to his free agency two years in advance. It would seem that things have since changed.
Rose admitted that getting paid isn’t his top priority when his contract expires this summer, though it’s impossible to not notice some of the contracts being handed out.
“See it here and there but it doesn’t drive me anymore,” Rose said of the money, via Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. “Like I always been driven by playing basketball and wanting to be the best. Like (money) numbers, of course you got to know it because of how I grew up. I grew up around the streets. Hustling. You see numbers, you can’t look over them. But I’m just happy that I have an opportunity for them to see how I perform and let them see what I’m worth.”
Rose hasn’t lost confidence, though. He’s entering a free agent market that could also include Stephen Curry, Chris Paul, Kyle Lowry, Jeff Teague, and Jrue Holiday, and he thinks he can hold a candle to all of them.
“I feel like I can compete against every one of them guys when I step on the floor,” Rose said. “It’s never like it’s a pushover, and that’s the only thing I want people to see. It’s not sweet. It’s not a pushover. And I can still hoop.”
We heard last month that Rose apparently wants a max contract. He probably still does, and he probably won’t get it, so it’s smart that he’s putting that focus on the backburner a bit.
