Malik Rose is a Welcher

The Knicks continue to downplay the shower-room altercation between Malik Rose and Nate Robinson after Wednesday's blowout loss to Orlando, still claiming it was simply over towels and soap. But Rose came clean yesterday, admitting that his welshing on a bet prompted the dust-up.
The two were OK with each other yesterday. When the media were let into the team's Greenburgh training facility, Rose was shagging rebounds for Robinson at the end of free throw drills.
Rose won't divulge what he owes Robinson for seeing his Eagles lose to the Seahawks two Monday nights ago, and the rookie did not make himself available to the media.
But Robinson apparently showed the kind of toughness that Isiah Thomas loves when he went into the shower to collect on the wager.
"Nate tried to jump on me when I was naked, thinking he had the advantage that way," Rose said. "He just got on my nerves, trying to get his money, and I'm not giving it to him. It was a couple of dollars."
The way Rose said "a couple of dollars," a couple of zeroes might be part of the bet.
Also as part of the payoff, Rose has to wear a Seahawks jersey and hat. Rose admitted that he tried to get out of the bet during the game when the Eagles' Michael [this is an error in the Daily News article. We all know it was Brian, the great Michael retired a long time ago] Westbrook was injured.
"All bets aren't good until halftime," he claimed. "When Westbrook went down, I didn't want to bet no more and Nate won't let me out of it. I don't think I should have to pay because all of my guys were injured."
This isn't the first tangle between Robinson and a teammate. Earlier this season, he and inactive center Jerome James had an altercation in practice.

Fighting naked in the shower doesn't seem like a good way to build team unity. But apparently Robinson and Rose did bury the hatchet. They went to the movies together this weekend, reportedly seeing "Brokeback Mountain".