Derrick Rose fined but not suspended for missing Pelicans game due to 'family issues'

Derrick Rose recently drew flak for failing to turn up for the New York Knicks game against New Orleans Pelicans last Monday and now that he's back in New York with his team, he is going to face some consequences for his lapse.

The Knicks' starting point guard reportedly went home to Chicago to be with his family but failed to inform the team that he won't be able to play in the game against the Pelicans.

Rose also failed to answer calls from the team when they tried to reach him because he needed to "process" family issues at the time, SB Nation reported.

Rose explained that while he understood that he was responsible for letting his team know about these types of incidents, there were circumstances that prevented him from doing so.

"Yeah, but things happen. And of course, that's not the person that I am. I explained to my teammates I didn't want any distractions, especially with what we have going on right now. And I apologized to them earlier, letting them know that it would never happen again. This wasn't me. This never happened to me before, and I explained that to the team and to the front office," he said. 

The Knicks lost the game 110-96 at the Madison Square Garden, according to New York Times. 

Rose will be fined for missing the game but will not be suspended for future games.

It seems that the management, while admitting that they would have preferred to be notified in advance, completely understood the situation and were satisfied with the sanction meted on their point guard, New York Daily News cited.

"If it was some other reason, it might be different. But family is the most importantIf a player has that issue and he calls and says, 'Hey, I've got a family thing. I've got to go.' There's no way we're not letting him go. So he got caught in it and went. And his explanation with the family is totally understandable," Head Coach Jeff Hornacek ended.