He really said this?
It's the same reason most players don't want to play for their hometown squads? Who the fukk wants former friends and family hitting them up for money and free tickets all the time.
Ironically, FiveThirtyEight just did an article about how much of a hassle it is for NBA players to deal with getting tickets for their friends and family. Then if you have certain friends you have to worry about getting into trouble. Just a bad look.
The NBA Has A New Generation Of Hometown Heroes
The NBA Has A New Generation Of Hometown Heroes
After being traded from Chicago to New York this past summer, Derrick Rose was elated when free agent center Joakim Noah, his close friend and ex-Bulls teammate,
signed with the Knicks. But Rose, who had played in his hometown of Chicago for eight years, had a piece of advice for Noah now that he’d be playing for a team
a mile from where he grew up.
“I just told him to be careful,” Rose said, after congratulating Noah, “because everybody’s going to ask you for tickets, and the demand is about to be crazy.”