Derrick Rose to Miss All-Star Weekend's Rookie Challenge

All-Star weekend is a busy time for the players who are scheduled to participate in even one of the events; it would be crazy busy for a player who was scheduled to compete in all of them.

That was how things were starting to shape up for Derrick Rose. The Bulls' second-year standout was booked solid all weekend long, initially slated to compete in the Rookie - Sophomore game on Friday, the Skills Challenge on Saturday, and the main event on Sunday.

Thankfully, someone came to their senses.

The Bulls pointed out Rose's busy weekend to the league office, and they relented ... a little. The NBA has decided to excuse Rose from Friday night's Rookie Challenge, mainly because they couldn't find a precedent for making a player take part in events on all three days.

Ordinarily, players cannot back out of an All Star game or the rookie/sophomore game unless they are injured. It's a league rule that if selected you must participate. But league officials in researching whether anyone ever competed in all three major events with Rose the defending champion in the Skills Challenge, found it was unprecedented and, thus, it would be unfair to demand it of Rose.

If Rose had to bow out of one of the events, then Friday night's Rookie Challenge seemed to be the most logical. Rose already competed in the event last year, and choosing between that game (which the Sophomore team always wins handily) and defending his Skills Challenge title (which requires a lot less effort than playing in an actual game) was a no-brainer.

Obviously, there's no way he was going to miss the All-Star game itself on Sunday.

UPDATE: Anthony Morrow of the Golden State Warriors has been named as Rose's replacement.