Derrick Rose: What We Lost

The Chicago Bulls are facing quite the trial this season. New guards Rajon Rondo and Dwyane Wade are guilty of needing the ball at all times. Big man Pau Gasol bailed. And most importantly, they’re going to be without Derrick Rose, who is now in the New York Knicks’ court (as well as in California federal court, where he is being sued for sexual battery under the state's civil law for allegedly gang-raping a woman along with two friends.

With Rose’s team trade, the Chicago native is no longer some unwanted presence. Instead, he’s on board what he calls a superteam. Local fans might think, “Finally, some justice,” but before you’re too quick to judge the deal, here’s a quick reminder of what Chicago will miss.

His defense

First and foremost, his defense won’t be here anymore, as it’s currently being prepared by Los Angeles attorney Mark Baute. He’s improving day by day, like how NBA big men go to learn from Hakeem Olajuwon. Rose will soon be able to master the arts of blocking damaging testimony in a civil sexual assault case, accused of stealing from a woman the sense of security and emotional stability we’re born with, and improving his footwork to tiptoe around the margins of the legal protections for victims.

His relentlessness

This is just one example of his competitive fire. In 2011, “Jane Doe” met Rose in Los Angeles and they began a relationship. Sure, she didn’t know he had a girlfriend (and soon a son) in Chicago, but he works hard enough to fit into any system. As the relationship progressed, Rose turned on the heat, full-court pressuring Doe to send him explicit material.

It was only a sign of what would follow--a tenacious star who wouldn’t take no for an answer. Yeah, the Bulls will miss this.

Veteran leadership

Rose isn’t a kid anymore, and as an adult, he knows his limits. He called off the relationship with Jane Doe when she made a rookie mistake in the summer of 2013 and refused to agree to a foursome with Rose, his friend, and his friend’s girlfriend.

“It seemed like she had an attitude and something I didn’t want to deal with, so I was done,” the cagey vet said. He later admitted asking her over text might not be the strongest choice, and you always want someone on your roster who learns from mistakes. Rose overcame a debilitating three-year series of knee injuries to play 66 games last season. He doesn’t know the meaning of the word “adversity,” much like he did not know the meaning of the word “consent,” which he was unable to describe or understand in his June 17th deposition:

Question: “Do you have an understanding as to the word consent?”

Rose: “No, but can you tell me?”

Question: “I just wanted to know if you had any understanding.”

Rose: “No.”

Check the quantifiables

With stat-based judgments all the rage in the modern NBA, a few good number-crunchers have some great insight into D-Rose’s impact! Rose’s own toxicologist, for example, estimates that on the night of August 27, 2013, Jane Doe’s blood alcohol level was 0.20, two and a half times the legal limit, to the point of unconsciousness.

Just to make sure we square that needle, the data’s qualified--Doe’s friend said it was “very obvious” how drunk Doe was. And here’s one more stat: 19! That’s the number of texts and calls on the night of the party between 1:24 and 2:53 AM from Rose and his associates to Doe in an effort for him to gain entry to her apartment.

That’s persistence you can track on a SportVU camera.

He takes care of the team

The offensively stagnant Bulls will miss what a team player Rose is, so much so that he brought some friends along the night of the alleged incident. Doe alleged she requested Rose to arrive alone, but he brought two friends, later stating in deposition people could assume what they were there for because “we men.”

Out of nowhere, he can change the game

Under Fred Hoiberg last year, the Bulls were middle of the pack in terms of pace. That can’t improve without Rose on the team. He’s liable to get off a streak of fury at any time, and other teams won’t know what hit them, like when Jane Doe woke up the morning after an evening spent in and out of consciousness to find her body swollen and rug-burned.

Even away from the action, he can make a difference. Through his legal team’s efforts to make sure Jane Doe is seen as the sexual aggressor and by pointing to photos on social media and interviews she made with media, Rose first did what he could to unsuccessfully dismiss the case, but then in a motion succeeded in removing Doe’s anonymity in trial.

With ice water in his veins, a move like that can only serve as a chilling effect! Victims, er opponents, will have a lot to lose if they come forward now thanks to this precedent.

Community leader

Rose talked about empowering youth, connecting with friends, and reading books over the offseason in an interview through the NBA Players Association a few weeks ago--pretty much everything, give or take a topic or two. If his public relations are anything like his private relations, New York will be in for a few surprises this year--well worth the $21.3 million investment they made by pick him and his salary up.

Beginning this week, he’ll have to take a break from the preseason to head to the courtroom, where where jury selection is now underway. But at least the Knicks will get him back. Chicago's lost Rose forever.

Truly our innocence is gone.

__________________________________________________________

Sean Sullivan is a writer for “The Koch Brothers Mystery Show” podcast, now in its second season.