DeMar DeRozan’s world flipped upside down in the summer of 2018 when the Toronto Raptors blindsided him with a blockbuster trade. DeRozan, the franchise’s longest-tenured star at the time and a beloved fan favorite, was shipped off to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for Kawhi Leonard, a move that sent shockwaves through the NBA.
But as painful as that night was for DeRozan, it apparently provided comedic gold for his friend and former teammate Rudy Gay.
On the latest episode of 7PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony, DeRozan and Gay hilariously revisited the moment. DeRozan described the emotional toll of being traded from the city he thought he’d retire in.
DeMar DeRozan: “I get traded from Toronto in the middle of the night. I’m sick. I’m hot. I’m walking down the street. I’m sitting in a f**king fast food parking lot. Right? I called two people.”
“First person I called to tell was Kyle Lowry. Second, I called this motherf**ker. Right? I said, ‘Yeah, bro. These n****s just traded me.’ N***a said, ‘Hahaha.’ N***a started laughing. I’m talking about this n***a laughing on the phone. I’m like, what the f**k, man?… He’s in San Antonio too, right?”
Rudy Gay: “Nah. After that, he told me he’s in San Antonio, and I laughed again.”
DeMar DeRozan: “Yeah, he laughed twice. The second laugh, I hung up on his ass.”
It’s a moment that perfectly captures the deep friendship between the two, where jokes can fly even during career-altering, life-changing events. Rudy Gay, having experienced his own shocking trade from Toronto years earlier, likely understood the absurdity of the situation better than anyone.
For Gay, it was less about mockery and more about the ironic humor of both of them ending up in San Antonio, completely out of the blue.
The trade itself was one of the most polarizing in Raptors history. DeRozan had just signed an extension a couple of years prior and had given everything to the franchise.
But Masai Ujiri, seeking a title run, pulled the trigger on a gamble: trading DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl, and a draft pick for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. That gamble paid off. Leonard led the Raptors to their first and only championship in 2019 but at the cost of heartbreak for the man who helped build the foundation.
While Raptors fans will always respect DeRozan’s loyalty, this humorous story between him and Rudy Gay adds a dose of levity to what was once a painful chapter. In hindsight, that fast-food parking lot call has become a classic tale of NBA friendship one filled with shock, irony, and laughter.
