Derrick Rose says he was in a ‘dark place’, now happy to be with the Cavs

The Cleveland Cavaliers have only been in training camp for a few days and a single game hasn’t been played yet. But for Derrick Rose, a new situation seems to be a good thing.

"I was in a dark place years ago, man," Rose said Saturday, per ESPN. "By a dark place, I mean, I was playing, like, revenge basketball, and that wasn't my way of playing basketball.”

"I enjoy competing, but when I came back it was about just trying to get back to the top and proving everybody wrong. Like, I know who I am as a man, I know who I am as a player or person. There's no point in doing that anymore. It's just being secure as a person and knowing who I am."

Additionally, Rose has been publicly praised by his teammates and coaches at several point already. Both Kevin Love — who shares a trainer with Rose — and Tristan Thompson have recently said that he’s been impressive in training camp. LeBron James has spoken about helping Rose rebuild his career too. As for coach Tyronn Lue, he sees Rose fitting in just fine.

"From what I've seen, yes," Lue said, per cleveland.com. "He's been great. Just his whole attitude, his work ethic. Having him on the floor, I didn't know he was such a great passer. He makes a lot of great passes and just watching him over the course of these last few days and watching stuff on Synergy, I didn't know he can make a lot of those plays because he's so dynamic and you see him dunking and exploding to the basket. But he understands how to make the right play and that's good for us. Especially with our shooters on the floor."

In Cleveland, Rose has a chance to rebuild his career. With Kyrie Irving on a different team and Isaiah Thomas out with an injury, the Cavs need someone to step up at point guard. Rose, it seems, will get a chance to start and fill in. A big year in Cleveland could do wonders for his career, too.

"I've been preparing myself for this situation, this stage for a long time," Rose said, per ESPN. "Preparing my body, preparing myself mentally, emotionally, spiritually, trying to be well-rounded for this stage and for this journey. Being here, the guys, I feel like I'm in a great situation. Everybody's focused. I love the staff, I love the front office, I love everything about it and I love Cleveland. That helps a lot.”