Derrick Rose Blames Owners For NBA Lockout, Earns $300,000 Playing Exhibition Games

Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls on Saturday spoke out for the first time about the current NBA lockout, blaming team owners for the current cancellation of play.

Speaking about the lockout Rose said:

“It’s sad. It’s very sad,” while adding, “Everybody knows it’s not our fault. It’s definitely not our fault. If it were up to us, we’d be out there playing. But I think that it’s wrong. I know (the owners) can easily take care of it and not take advantage of people. But I guess that’s how people are.

“(The owners are) not thinking about anything we’re saying. They’re not taking it into consideration, nothing that we’re trying to give them. We’ll just have to see how it goes.”

Rose admitted that he personally did not attend any of the scheduled bargaining sessions because of his schedule while also revealing that he plans to talk with NBPA president Derek Fisher about the opportunity. Fisher and Rose traveled together during the off-season to the Phillipines for an exhibition game.

I personally find it hard to stand behind either side in the dispute, on the one hand the financial statements released by team owners to show “losses” for many NBA teams have been brought into question as owners attempt to use the cost of purchasing a franchise to offset earnings. On the other hand, Rose made $300,000 for a pickup game in the Phillipines this off-season which makes it hard for me to jump on the bandwagon that players are being underpaid to dribble a ball down a piece of wooden floor.

One thing is for certain, fans of the NBA are being alienated and during the NFL season the last thing you want is for “general sports” fans to feel like you’ve abandoned them when they have plenty to watch on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and sometimes Thursday nights.

Who do you think needs to make more concessions in terms of giving up some ground during union/owner talks?