First let me start by saying that I'm not a Derek Rose fan at all. I don't like his game (I think he's dramatically overrated) and I don't think much of his attitude as a player (I think he's too soft, gutless, lacks that competive edge).
But in this case, it's kinda hard to hold this against him. All we know is that he didn't want to recruit stars, we don't know why. Maybe he really believes in his team, and doesn't believe they need a new star coming in and disrupting the chemistry. Maybe he believes that all the team needs is a couple of key role players to get over the top. Delusional or not, it's hard to fault the guy for having belief in his teammates.
Or maybe he said it because he believes he's great, wants to 'own' the keys to the franchise. Maybe he doesn't want someone else taking his glory...in this case yeh, a bit selfish.
Or maybe he just believes recruiting is the GMs job and not his...which it true.