Derrick Rose does not give an expletive about his $80 million Adidas contract

Following news of his latest injury, former NBA MVP Derrick Rose took a leave of absence from the Cleveland Cavaliers in late November, reportedly “evaluating his future” in the game of basketball, only to return to the team earlier this week, left ankle still injured and possibly requiring surgery.

There are, of course, $80 million reasons why Rose would not retire at the age of 29. While he joined the Cavs on a veteran minimum salary following a series of knee injuries that led to years of declining production, the three-time All-Star is still due roughly $11.4 million annually from Adidas for a massive endorsement deal he signed with Adidas in 2012. Except, Rose would not be eligible for the remainder of that contract should he file his retirement papers with the league, per ESPN.com’s Nick DePaula.

But Rose insisted on Friday that his agreement with Adidas has no bearing on his future in the game.

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“Man, I don’t care about — not to be rude — I don’t care about no f***ing money,” Rose told reporters, via ESPN.com’s Dave McMenamin. “It’s not about that. I’ve saved up enough money. It’s not about that. If I wanted to leave, I would have left. Like I said, coming back here, starting with rehab that’s my first step. Keeping it simple and just giving my team support and then I’ll see what I see off the court.”

Rose has made more than $100 million in his 10-year playing career, and he’s already cashed in on another $100 million of the Adidas contract he signed five years ago, so, yeah, it’s not like he needs the money. Still, if he were contemplating retirement — as he reportedly has upon leaving his teams twice in the past two years — it would be hard for anyone to walk away from an eight-figure salary.

Now, Rose will apparently continue trying to restore his reputation as an uninspired and injury-prone player in hopes of earning a more lucrative playing contract come summertime. That process was aided by Cavs superstar LeBron James’ public support of Rose following a recent apology to the team.

As for the injury woes, Rose was initially supposed to be out for 2-3 weeks starting in mid-November, after injuring the ankle in the second game of the season, missing four games, returning for a five-game stretch and sitting back down on Nov. 9. That timeline would have had him back by now, but the announcement upon his return seemed to suggest Rose had not rehabbed while away from the team.

In his session with reporters on Friday, Rose revealed, “I got a bone spur that I didn’t tell anybody.”

Rose reportedly knew about the issue prior to joining the Cavs. The team found out after doing imaging on his ankle following the injury, according to ESPN. The Cavs believe surgery would be more of an offseason issue, and that whether Rose plays will be an issue of pain management.

With Rose now intending to rehab the injured ankle before deciding whether to go under the knife, there’s a chance at least that he never sees the floor again for the Cavaliers. He would still collect his combined $13.5 million salary from the Cavs and Adidas should he require season-ending surgery.

Meanwhile, the Cavaliers have been on a franchise-record 13-game winning streak in Rose’s absence, sorting out a rotation with Jose Calderon as the starting point guard and Dwyane Wade working as his backup. The Cavs no longer require his services, and sadly that’s been true for a few years now.

It’s been a humbling stretch for Rose after becoming the youngest MVP in league history in 2011. Four years after tearing his left ACL in the opening game of the 2012 playoffs — two months removed from signing his Adidas deal — Rose was traded in a salary dump by the Chicago Bulls in June 2016, and the New York Knicks opted not to retain him this past summer. In between, he was on trial and ultimately cleared of all charges in a civil lawsuit accusing him of participating in a disturbing alleged gang rape.

Rose’s career led him this season to Cleveland, where he accepted a $19.2 million pay cut. And it could get humbling still for Rose, whose market might finally dry up completely come free agency in July.

It is unclear whether Rose could still receive the full $80 million from Adidas if he finishes the season on Cleveland, fails to sign an NBA contract and ends up out of basketball without filing for retirement.

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Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach