Shortly before the New York Knicks and New Orleans Pelicans tipped off at Madison Square Garden on Monday night, the Knicks’ PR released a tweet saying that point guard Derrick Rose was not with the team:
And it’s not just that Rose wasn’t with the team, but The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that as of tip-off, the team didn’t know why Rose was absent. He added that Rose was unhappy about being benched against the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday, but it’s unclear if that had anything to do with the absence:
Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek addressed the topic after the game:
There is sure to be much more coming with this story, and we’ll update this post when more information becomes available.
UPDATE: Derrick Rose’s longtime teammate Joakim Noah says that he’s spoken with Rose, and that Rose is “ok”:
UPDATE 2: ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reports that Rose left without permission, but told the Knicks he had a family siutation: