On Wednesday, the Sacramento Kings will host the Toronto Raptors for a preseason NBA matchup. It will be another chance for Kings guard DeMar DeRozan to face off against his former team, whom he helped guide to the Eastern Conference Finals back in 2016.
Last year, DeRozan was embroiled in a mini-feud with Toronto rapper Drake, who said, “If you ever put a DeRozan banner up, I’ll go up there and pull it down myself,” per TSN.
Recently, DeRozan spoke on that supposed feud.
“What I did there, I put my life on the line every single moment I stepped on the court. Nothing or nobody could ever take that away. I don’t get caught up in shenanigans or all the bull crap that comes with it,” said DeRozan, per Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee. “At the end of the day, I hoop. I go out there. Every true fan and every person that knows me there knows I represented that place more than anybody that ever came through there.”
An interesting legacy
DeMar DeRozan in many ways helped put Toronto back on the basketball map in the 2010s but was never able to get over the LeBron James-sized roadblock during his time there.
DeRozan also spoke on his appearance in Kendrick Lamar's video for “Not Like Us,” which dropped in the middle of the two rappers' feud last year.
“Drake’s still my man, still my man, none of it changed,” DeRozan said. “It’s so easy to get overlooked and look at it for what it looks like, but at the end of the day it’s music, entertainment. Two of the biggest rappers in the world went at it from a competitive standpoint and they battled it out. That’s what you want to see as a fan: Kobe (Bryant) playing (Michael) Jordan 1-on-1 and see who wins, see the trash talking, and whoever wins out of that, you’re still going to have the debate, so that’s all that is.”
The Raptors and Kings will tip off at 10:00 PM ET.
