Derrick Rose on rape investigation: 'I will be proven innocent'

Derrick Rose said he will be proven innocent ahead of a civil case against him.

New York Knicks point guard Derrick Rose met with the media on Monday to address the ongoing criminal rape investigation in Los Angeles and the civil case against him scheduled to go to court next week.

“If I do have to miss time it's a part of it. It is what it is,” Rose said. “I'm going to let my lawyers and my team handle it.”

Rose said that “there's a chance” he might miss some time for court hearings in early October for the civil suit. 

He also reiterated his innocence. 

“As far as the trial it's not something I can think about,” he added. “It's not true, I will be proven innocent.”

Rose has not been charged with any crime in the Los Angeles investigation. Rose claimed Monday was the first that he heard about the criminal investigation, and he said he did not do anything wrong. There is no public timetable for the investigation.

Watch Rose's press conference comments below:

The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed the ongoing criminal investigation in a letter published on Monday.

The civil trial against Rose is scheduled to start on Oct. 4. Rose's unnamed accuser has claimed that Rose and two of his friends raped her in August 2013. The accuser says she was incapacitated after a night of drinking and did not give consent.

Rose has denied the allegations, saying the sex was consensual.

Rose is heading into his first season with the Knicks after being traded from the Chicago Bulls in the off-season. He is in the final season of a five-year contract worth $94.3 million and is scheduled to make $21.3 million in 2016–17.