ESPN The Magazine Stands By Derrick Rose Interview

By Marcus Vanderberg on May 23, 2011 7:34 PM

ESPN the Magazine stands behind their interview of Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose, where the NBA MVP admits performance enhancing drugs is a problem in the league.

Rose was asked on a scale of 1-10 with one being, “What are PEDs?’” and 10 being, “Everybody’s juicing!” how big of a problem is illegal enhancing in your sport?

“Seven,” Rose said. “It’s huge and I think we need a level playing field, where nobody has that advantage over the next person.”

The question was asked by a “contributing reporter” in November and Rose quickly backpedaled when it was brought up Sunday prior to Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

“Regarding the quote attributed to me in ESPN The Magazine, I do not recall making the statement nor do I recall the question being asked,” Rose said in a statement released by the Bulls. “If that was my response to any question, I clearly misunderstood what was asked of me. But, let me be clear, I do not believe there is a performance enhancing drug problem in the NBA.”"

ESPN the Magazine editor-in-chief Gary Belsky released a statement Monday regarding the interview:

“‘Scale of 1-10′ is an ongoing project in The Magazine, for which a group of contributing reporters routinely ask athletes in various sports a series of questions about all manner of topics,” Belsky said in the statement provided to CBSSports.com. “On Nov. 26, 2010, one of these contributors interviewed Derrick Rose before a Bulls-Nuggets game in Denver, and while we firmly stand by our representation of Derrick’s response to our question about the use of performance-enhancing drugs in his sport, only he can speak to his understanding of the question and the intent of his answer.”