Derrick Rose is aching to get back to the hardwood but it seems that he will have to share his time at the legal courts with sexual assault charges hurled at him just recently.

Rose is facing rape charges filed by his former flame who alleges that she was drugged and then gang-raped by Rose and two of his friends in August 2013.

TMZ Sports was the first to report the news about the legal charges last Wednesday with the name of the complainant undisclosed for now. She and Rose were in a confirmed relationship dating from 2011 to 2013.

She claims that at that time, she was invited to the house of Rose at Beverly Hills and that a drug was slipped into her drink. Before anything got out of hand, she alleges that she was able to escape with a friend.

However, she further adds that her ordeal didn't end there. She goes on to say that Rose and his friends broke into her apartment and gang-raped her.

The reason behind the filing of charges only now is that she was ashamed and embarrassed to divulge the said sexual assault. Further to that, she was afraid of letting her family know of what had happened back in 2013.

When asked about the charges, Rose says that he knows the truth and believes that he will eventually be proven innocent. For now, his focus is on playing basketball for the coming season — the first season in a long while that the former Most Valuable Player (MVP) will be starting without injury.

Rose has been plagued with knee injuries for the last three years but made a surprise comeback in the last NBA playoffs.

The Chicago Bulls are reportedly aware of the situation but will comment on it once all the facts have been laid on the table.

Could this off-court issue affect Rose's play for the coming season?