It was one of the ugliest off-court moments in recent NBA history. Jurors pose with Derrick Rose outside a Los Angeles courthouse after he was found not responsible for the 2016 gang rape of his ex-girlfriend.
Rose, a longtime Chicago Bulls player, began his career as a basketball player with the New York Knicks. Having strayed from the seemingly sacred path, he is trying to get closer to his former heights. It’s a story that, as sports fans, we’ve seen before and naturally understand. He does not have to face the annoying distractions of an ongoing case or the jarring imperfections that may result from different verdicts. This verdict makes it easier, if you let it, to forget about this case and focus on his career.
Rose went on to play eight seasons in the NBA before announcing his retirement Thursday, officially ending a lofty career. After some rocky years, he tried to recapture his early talents and eventually emerged as a valuable depth back and a veteran mentor. Strictly speaking, Rose’s path on the court is similar to the career of Vince Carter, who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame next month, in large part because he solved this problem better than any player. change.
With Rose, things won’t be that easy, right? Nor should it be. Being found not guilty is not the same as being found not guilty. If Rose can speak passionately about basketball being his first love and how it has allowed him to grow and improve, then his retirement is an opportunity to remind us who he is as one of the league’s smartest players.
For at least one moment, he was being awful — and it also showed us how unhealthy our culture is.
Almost by definition, a civil trial requires a jury to determine whether the plaintiff or defendant’s version of events is more credible. Even without spending time researching the history of women’s sexual histories being used against them in cases like this—which is a sentence fragment worth considering—Ross acknowledged that what did happen was and still is shocking.
• Yes, he and his friend had sex with the woman in the past, Rose’s girlfriend of two years.
• Yes, Ross repeatedly sent the woman sexually explicit videos and asked her to engage in group sex, even though she refused.
• No, Rose does not understand the concept of consent.
These matters are not controversial. Of course, it would be naive to think that some of these things don’t happen to other athletes, celebrities, and regular people on a regular basis. But that doesn’t mean the outcome of the case can be blamed on a memorable and unique career-long on-field moment. Those things did happen; this is what he did in the situation.
It doesn’t matter that it happened 11 years ago and went to trial 8 years ago. Yes, Rose put together a remarkable career as a hometown player who led one of the league’s top teams out of a lost decade and into the heat of a championship race. Rose’s fans, especially his Chicago fans, have understandably developed a deep emotional connection with him.
That doesn’t mean we forget that Rose’s continued presence in the league makes it harder for people to pay attention to the sport. Rose’s case reminds us of the rights that athletes can enjoy and benefit from. Rose may not be affected by this, but the NBA and NBPA jointly agreed on a new policy on domestic abuse, sexual violence and child abuse that will take effect within one year of the conclusion of Rose’s case. It’s an imperfect policy, and because we live in an imperfect society, we can’t say whether it changes the behavior of people within the league. Of course, incidents still happen, and it sometimes feels like the main thing the policy does is make team building easier.
It all complicates Rose’s retirement. It’s nearly impossible to put together what he did in court and what the trial revealed about him, but it would be irresponsible not to try. We live in a world that does not afford us this luxury. Any attempt to separate the two is fundamentally self-serving, an attempt to subtly separate brilliance from cruelty.
The best thing about being a sports fan is discovering what humans are capable of under special circumstances. It’s also the worst thing.
(Photo: Elsa/Getty Images)
