Phil shrugs off Rose trial: 'Not keeping him up at night'

Phil Jackson didn't want to answer questions about Derrick Rose's ongoing civil trial for sexual assault, but opened his mouth anyway.

Addressing a throng of reporters at Friday's New York Knicks media day, Jackson said the ongoing proceedings will not impact Rose's ability to play.

"We're not going to really talk about that, we're just going to let the process work itself out," Jackson said Friday.

"We're not concerned. We understand this is a serious subject we're talking about but this has to be done outside of our control. It's something we can't control so Derrick has expressed that he's not concerned about it.

"I mean, he's quite aware of it but it's not keeping him up at night so we're going to leave it at that."

Rose, along with two others, are facing accusations of sexual assault. Having motioned to dismiss the case, Rose emphatically denies his involvement. A trial date is scheduled for Oct. 4 in Los Angeles.

"We anticipate that it will not affect his season, hopefully training camp or games," Jackson said. "But we're to go let the due process of the justice system work its work through here in the next week and a half or so. We want to put this to rest. There doesn't need to be a lot of talk about this."