Derrick Rose says he had to be selfish last season, now he’s all about leading his team to a championship.

“There’s only one goal, and that’s to win a championship,” Rose told USA Today, before the conversation quickly turned to last year’s lost season.

Rose angered some with his decision to sit out the entire season recuperating from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, remaining on the sidelines even after doctors cleared him to resume play around the All-Star break and the team became decimated by injury.

"I'm not a selfish guy at all, but having this injury and knowing what I had to go through and knowing that I had to be smart, this is something that I had to be selfish with," Rose told the newspaper. "I couldn't worry about anyone else but myself and my health."

Though later in the year, he often practiced with the team, Rose maintains those situations didn’t replicate the kind of double-team defenses and physical play he would face from NBA opponents.

But this season, the youngest MVP in league history, insists things will be different.

"Me going on the court and showing them will let them know it was the right decision,” he said of his teammates.