Derrick Rose defends sitting out: 'I'm thinking about after I'm done with basketball'

Derrick Rose is thinking about his future.

Having appeared in only four of the Chicago Bulls' eight games this season after spraining both ankles against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Oct. 31, Rose, who missed almost the entire 2013-14 campaign due to major knee surgery, is inevitably being bombarded with questions about his health.

However, a large part of the criticism stems from the belief that the Memphis product could have appeared in several games he chose to sit out. Rose opted to rest for the Bulls' 98-90 win over the Orlando Magic last week because he didn't feel comfortable enough playing after working out for roughly one hour.

In conversation with ESPN's Nick Friedell on Tuesday, Rose addressed the criticism and reminded the basketball world that risking further injury, as he did in his first few NBA seasons, has the ability to affect his post-NBA life.

"I know a lot of people get mad when they see me sit out or whatever, but I think a lot of people don't understand that when I sit out it's not because of this year," Rose said. "I'm thinking about long term. I'm thinking about after I'm done with basketball. 

"Having graduations to go to, having meetings to go to, I don't want to be in my meetings all sore. Or be at my son's graduation all sore just because of something I did in the past. (I'm) just learning and being smart."

In the four contests in which he's featured this season, Rose is averaging 17.5 points, 5.8 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals.