<
        >

          Chicago Bulls Report

          Derrick Rose proclaims innocence in civil suit

          play
          Rose: 'I know I'm great' (0:49)

          Bulls star Derrick Rose talks about the confidence he has in his own game and new coach Fred Hoiberg. (0:49)

          • Nick Friedell, ESPN Staff WriterSep 28, 2015, 11:20 PM
            Close
              Nick Friedell is the Chicago Bulls beat reporter for ESPN Chicago. Friedell is a graduate of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and joined ESPNChicago.com for its launch in April 2009.
            Follow on X

          CHICAGO -- Derrick Rose proclaimed his innocence on Monday in regard to a civil suit filed against him over the summer.

          "I will be proven innocent," Rose said. "But at the same time, [the suit] hasn't affected anything. It's not true. I take it as motivation. I feel like the devil's just working. I feel like I'm on the right track as far as where I want to be at in my life and the direction I want to go. And I just feel like when you're that focused, people try to take you down, so I'm very confident that I will be proven innocent."

          The lawsuit, filed in August in Los Angeles Superior Court by an unidentified woman, accuses Rose and two of his friends of sexual misconduct.

          The 26-year-old made it clear he thinks his name will be cleared.

          "The story was false," Rose said. "I don't think I have to alter anything. I live my life the way I live my life. I live in the moment and I enjoy life. I can't let that one incident that's not true affect the way that I live, and I'm not going to let it. I love my life, actually, so I can't complain about anything. I just got to take this and use it as fuel, and the season is around the corner."

          Rose believes his case will be a cautionary one for the rest of the league and will cause players to keep their inner circles even tighter.

          "You have to be very careful," Rose said. "I think anybody in my position, my case, I think it scared everybody in the league probably. If not, I hope it got everybody's attention. The only thing you could do now is just learn from it. The [people] in your life, they've got to be in your life for a few good reasons -- more than one -- so I think everyone in the league should learn from my mistakes."

          Bulls general manager Gar Forman said he does not expect Rose to miss any time because of the ongoing legal battle.

          "Derrick's part of our family, and Derrick has our full support," Forman said. "And I know that Derrick's got the full support of his teammates. I think he's in a great place physically, I think he's in a really good place mentally, and I think his focus, just like his teammates' focus, is on getting started tomorrow and getting preseason camp started and just having a really, really good, productive season."