BULLS DERRICK ROSE APOLOGIZES FOR GANG SIGN PHOTO

Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose said he used "extremely poor judgment" in posing for a photo flashing a gang sign. The NBA's Rookie of the Year said in a statement issued through the Bulls that the photo circulating on the Internet was taken at a party he went to while at the University of Memphis. It was "meant as a joke … a bad one, I now admit," Rose said. Rose also said he was "guilty of being young, naive and of using extremely poor judgment," but has never been affiliated with a gang. "I can't speak loudly enough against gang violence, and things that gangs represent," he said. "I sincerely apologize to all my fans for my mistake."

Rose, the overall No. 1 pick in the 2008 NBA draft who led the Bulls to the playoffs, was already under a cloud cast by an NCAA investigation of major violations at Memphis during the only season he played there.