There was a time not too long back when DeMar DeRozan was basically an afterthought. He was seemingly toiling away in the shadows with the San Antonio Spurs and when it came out that the Bulls were signing him last year, many felt they were making a mistake.
It has proven to be a masterstroke and DeRozan ended up having the best season of his career in 2021-22. He hasn’t quite been able to replicate his heroics from last season in this one, but the veteran continues to play at a pretty high level. He is averaging over 25 points per game to once again lead the Bulls and recently hit a big milestone, as he became the 50th player to score 20,000 career points.
DeMar DeRozan On How Kobe Bryant Inspired Him
One of the many big names that DeRozan joined in that club was the late great Kobe Bryant. DeRozan has in the past named Bryant as his idol and before he reached the biggest milestone of his career, DeMar credited Kobe for helping him become the player he is today.
via The Athletic:
“My imagination and my foundation started from Kobe,” DeRozan said. “Just watching him give me that imagination as a kid to want to shoot a fadeaway. To want to learn to pull up. To want to rock a ’fro. It started from that. That was my skeleton of a basketball player I wanted to be and things I wanted to do. Without Kobe, I wouldn’t have that imagination.”
In what would have been the ultimate compliment to him, DeRozan’s efforts last season drew comparisons with Bryant a few times. Joel Embiid said earlier this year that DeMar’s footwork reminds him of Kobe’s after he dropped 45 points on the Sixers and we are sure that Bryant would be extremely proud of what DeRozan has achieved over the last year or so.
Kobe was an inspiration to so many current NBA stars in the same way that Michael Jordan was an inspiration to him. They are two of the more influential figures in the history of the league and Charles Barkley paid them and LeBron James a huge compliment recently by saying they are perfect players.
