Come on D Rose!

After a long, excruciating process of winning back fans and favorable public opinion it seemed like Rose had finally climbed back into a positive place, basketball-wise at least. And then he goes out and says some stupid shit like this!

When asked about the perception that Rose wouldn’t be able to thrive without Thibodeau at the helm Rose told his haters, and anyone who doubted him to “kill themselves”. Twice.

He has since apologized and somehow avoided a much larger scandal, but dismissing the phrase as slang as he did doesn’t do it justice. No, it’s not a big deal to him, and yes, we do have to be more careful with our words now as we grow increasingly aware of their personal and societal impact. Especially as a public figure, Rose knows far better than to casually drop phrases like this into the public sphere without first considering potential consequences. It certainly isn’t easy being asked questions every single day and striving to maintain professionalism while towing a line between maintaining privacy and opening yourself up to the world. It shouldn’t be too much to ask Rose and any public figure to keep the “kill yourself” phrase out of rotation as a casual, comedic way to end a sentence.

The importance of language reveals itself every day when facts become biased opinions, words turn into hate crimes, and celebrities abuse their potential impact. Rose does not get a pass in any way, especially in his comeback year. It doesn’t make him a bad person, it makes him guilty of a thoughtless but harmful phrase re-entering the public sphere and he deserves to be called out.