NBA star DeMar DeRozan was seen cutting a rug on stage while Kendrick Lamar performed his hit “Not Like Us” on Wednesday night at the Kia Forum.
This may not seem so unusual. After all, apparently half of Los Angeles was packed onto the Forum stage to dance along to the Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper's song, which also doubles as a Drake song and possibly the final word in the very public Lamar feud with the Canadian. hip-hop superstar.
However, DeRozan seems to be in a unique situation, as he might have been the only person up there who has, or at least had, a friendship with Drake.
DeRozan, a standout at Compton High, played at USC for one year before being selected No. 9 overall by the Toronto Raptors in the 2009 NBA draft. After spending the first nine years of his career With Toronto earning three All-Star nods during that period, DeRozan was sent to the San Antonio Spurs in the trade that brought Kawhi Leonard to the Raptors during the 2018 offseason. He was then traded to the Chicago Bulls in 2021 and He will become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Drake, whose full name is Aubrey Drake Graham, was born in Toronto and is a die-hard Raptors fan. He has served as the team's global ambassador since 2013. The day DeRozan was traded to the Spurs, the “God's Plan” singer was there to provide comfort to the heartbroken player.
“I went to Drake's house. He and I sat down and talked for a couple hours,” DeRozan told ESPN in 2018. “Not even about some basketball stuff. Just to hear the words that come from him being the person he is in this world, especially in Toronto. What I meant to this city. It was what he needed.”
At the time, Drake posted a heartfelt message to DeRozan on Instagram, referring to him as a “brother,” as well as “an amazing captain and an even better friend.”
“To my brother @demar_derozan I want to say 10 million thanks on behalf of YOUR city. “You are a fixture in Toronto forever and you gave everything you had,” Drake wrote in a post that appears to have been deleted. “Thanks to his leadership, we had the most exciting years in the history of the franchise. I am grateful to have witnessed his combination of skill, persistence and loyalty from the same seats every night. Thank you for being an incredible captain and an even better friend.”
Drake also mentioned the basketball star in his 2021 song “Lemon Pepper Freestyle” with the line “My city loves me like DeMar DeRozan.”
But Lamar also has a connection to DeRozan.
They both grew up in Compton and were seen together at a 2020 peace march in the city. With his feud with Drake reaching epic proportions this spring, Lamar released “Not Like Us,” which also contains a line referencing DeRozan: “I’m glad DeRoz came home, you guys didn’t deserve it either.”
Lamar performed the popular song several times in a row on Wednesday during his “The Pop Out – Ken & Friends” show in Inglewood on June 16. DeRozan and Clippers star Russell Westbrook, who is from Long Beach and played for UCLA, seemed to have a good time dancing with the masses on stage during the fifth and final time Lamar performed the song. Lakers star LeBron James and future NBA free agent James Harden, who played last season with the Clippers, were also present, but did not take the stage.
Maybe DeRozan's move was nothing personal toward Drake. Perhaps he simply wanted to participate in a special moment without giving it much thought.
Or maybe DeRozan was finally getting revenge for being dissed multiple times by the “Laugh Now Cry Later” singer during his 2017 NBA Awards sketch with comedian Will Ferrell. Drake is probably having second thoughts about making fun of DeRozan's name, with lines like “DeMar, I say, I like him less” and “DeFense? Is this your cousin, DeMar? – right now.
