The always-thoughtful LeBron James took time to speak on Derrick Rose’s departure from the team, and his answers shouldn’t surprise anyone.
Although Rose really hasn’t been that instrumental in pulling the Cavs out of their early struggles, LeBron made sure the public knows he’s still viewed as a ‘brother’ in the locker room and is wishing him the best during his absence:
“I don’t think it means too much for the team, but I think more importantly as one of his brothers, that’s somebody we got to know these last couple months,” James said. “We want, whatever he decides to do, we want the best for him. At the end of the day, you can’t substitute nothing for happiness.”
Since first tearing his ACL in 2011, Rose has almost constantly suffered from nagging leg injuries that have hampered much of the explosion that catapulted him to a league MVP one season earlier in 2010.
There was plenty of hope that with a more limited role & less minutes in Cleveland, Rose could get back to playing at a high level, but he suffered another ankle injury early this season and hasn’t looked right since.
Even worse, Rose could stand to lose a ton of money from Adidas if he does in fact walk away for good, after signing a 13-year, $185 million deal in 2012.
We’ve previously heard Rose say it was important to him to be able to enjoy playing with his son in the future, however it must be killing him to finally be on a true contender & not be able to contribute.
We will see how it plays out, but as far as the Cavs; they’ll likely be okay with, or without Rose.