Forget His First Step, Derrick Rose's Lead Foot Makes News

As the first overall draft pick, Derrick Rose has some big shoes to fill. Somewhat amazingly, he's already topped LeBron James in at least one category ... albeit an embarrassing one. In December, James was ticketed for driving 101 mph in a 65 mph zone, but Rose beat that indiscretion easily, getting caught going 106 in a 65 back in late April.

Wait, this happened back in April? Why are we just now finding out about this? That's a great question -- in the hype machine that is pre-draft coverage, it's actually quite amazing that Rose's camp was able to keep this under wraps. The only reason we found out about it is because Rose's attorney spoke with the media on Tuesday, admitting that his client will have a court appearance later this month.

At least Rose isn't following completely in LeBron's footsteps. In his first comments after the news broke about his ticket, LeBron admitted that it probably wouldn't stop him from speeding in the future, saying it's "not a big deal to me." Rose, on the other hand, showed far more poise by saying, "I know I did something dumb. I made a big mistake. I'm very sorry, and I can only promise that it will never happen again."

Rose's attorney was quick to stress that Rose's driving record was otherwise clean. Color me not surprised: the guy is 19 years old, he's been driving for, what, three years? I'll be more impressed if this is his only ticket three years from now.

I know, I know, people generally don't get too upset about speeding when alcohol isn't involved -- and there wasn't in this case -- but that's just because most people don't fully appreciate the danger in maneuvering a two-ton steel missle hurdling down the road in excess of 100 mph. Rose was pulled over at 3 am, and the distance it'd take him to brake far exceeded the reach of his headlights. Accidents may not happen often, but when they do, they almost always result in the worst-case scenario if you're driving this fast, especially when you're a relatively inexperienced driver.

(via BallHype)