Derrick Rose Told Carmelo Anthony ‘the Game Would Be Easy’ if They Teamed Up

In the end, the New York Knicks and their millions of dollars proved too hard for Carmelo Anthony to turn down. Derrick Rose, though happy with the Chicago Bulls’ offseason moves, admits that he’s bummed out about his recruiting efforts not working on Melo. Per the Chicago Sun-Times:

“I mean, who wouldn’t be disappointed?’’ Rose said with a laugh on Monday. “Of course. But at the same time, you can’t be mad at the decision he made. If you put yourself in that decision, that’s a hard decision. You got your family to think about. You got money to think about. Not to say you should think about money. But when you’re talking about millions and millions of dollars, you can’t just put that behind you. So I’m not mad with the decision that he made and I wish him nothing but the best.’’

 

Rose had his daily workout moved from the Berto Center to the United Center on that July 1 visit from Anthony, and had a chance to speak with the All-Star forward that afternoon. “That if he was to come, that the game would be easy,’’ Rose said, when asked what his message to Anthony was. “I don’t know how easy but of course it would be easy. And that we wanted him. Just plain and simple, we wanted him to come. He decided to go somewhere else. But it’s no hard feelings. I can’t get mad at the decision he made. He’s a grown man.’’

 

“Great, great,’’ Rose said. “When you think about [Pau] Gasol, him winning championships and bringing that experience to our team and him being around our bigs like Joakim [Noah], and talking to them and giving them advice? Like, c’mon, I think that’s all we needed.’’