THE GLORY DAYS for Malik Rose started to come to an end during the 2004-05 season, when, as one of the most beloved members of the star-studded San Antonio Spurs, he was traded to the New York Knicks for Nazr Mohammad and Jamison Brewer. Having already won two titles in San Antonio, and being traded in the middle of a season that also would end in a championship, Rose understandably was devastated by the trade-deadline move.
In his ninth season and 30 years old at the time, Rose, a second-round pick out of Drexel by the Charlotte Hornets in 1996, started to turn his attention toward life after playing.