Derrick Rose revealed his next move.
The Knicks guard announced Tuesday that he’s starting a chess tournament called “Chesstival” with the inaugural competition this summer in Las Vegas.
Celebrities and professional athletes will be among the competitors in the “high-stakes series chess tournament,” which will run the same weekend that the NBA’s Vegas Summer League opens July 7-8.
“The game of chess is something I’ve been passionate about since high school,” Rose said in a press release. “Chess is undeniably competitive and strategic at its core, which are two characteristics I’ve carried throughout my career. I am thrilled to bring Chesstival to life at Resorts World Las Vegas and continue to grow interest in chess worldwide.”
Rose, who fell out of the Knicks' rotation early in the season and only played once since December, had previously listed founding a chess league as one of his post-retirement plans. Two others were vertical farming and buying a library.
Rose, 34, was the NBA’s youngest MVP when he won the award in 2011, the highlight of a career that included three All-Star appearances. Two years ago, he was key to the Knicks’ run to the fourth seed in the East. That earned him a two-year, $28 million contract in the summer of 2021, but injuries and a youth movement left him on the bench for most of the last two seasons.
He has a $15.6 million team option next season that the Knicks will not pick up. Rose hasn’t revealed when he’ll retire.
The young Knicks players have lauded Rose’s presence as a leader and mentor, particularly at the start of the playoffs. Rose has more than double the playoff experience (51 games) than anybody else on the roster.
“He’s been great. I feel like the past week and a half or so, he’s been a little more vocal,” Quentin Grimes said leading up to the first round. “I think he kind of feels the excitement coming back, the playoffs coming around.
“Given what we’re going through, stuff out there in practice, he’s definitely talking more. He’s talking to me, [Miles McBride], anybody, anybody who will listen. Having a guy like that — he’s an MVP, a Hall of Famer, you’re gonna listen to him every time he talks.”
Randle’s advantage
Bigger and stronger.
That was the advantage Julius Randle held over Evan Mobley in Game 1, and it turned out to be the difference in the important matchup.
Mobley, making his playoff debut at a lanky 215 points, was bullied by Randle, who returned from an ankle sprain with tired lungs but his usual physicality.
Randle said the physical dominance came naturally, rather than a concerted effort to push around the smaller opponent.
“Honestly, I wasn’t even really — it wasn’t a thing that was on my mind or something that I was trying to take advantage of,” he said. " I was just playing how I would play, let the cards fall where they may.”
Still, it was effective. Mobley managed just eight points in Game 1 — less than half his season average — while missing nine of his 13 attempts.
Among the game’s biggest plays was Randle’s offensive rebound in the final seconds, which created the extra Knicks possession that sealed the victory.
“I ran through the elbow, tried to create as much space and create as much force as I could and got in the position to get the rebound,” Randle explained Tuesday.
Randle, who hadn’t played in over two weeks leading up to Game 1 because of the ankle sprain, said he was exhausted but used the two off-days before Game 2 to recover.
“I slept the whole day the day afterward. My lungs were a little tired,” he said. “I’ll be fine. Conditioning, I’ll be fine. Takes time when you’ve been sitting out for that many days, but I’ll be fine.”
