When the Toronto Raptors were named Champions of the basketball world in 2019, DeMar DeRozan was forced to watch from his living room, just like millions of other viewers worldwide.
Of course, DeRozan once hoped to be the one to lead the Raptors to a chip. As a star of the franchise from 2009-2018, he spent years developing a strong relationship with the team and the city of Toronto.
But when the team traded him away as part of the Kawhi Leonard deal, DeRozan was forced to watch as his former teammates rallied to win a title.
In the latest episode of Bleacher Report’s “Chips” hosted by Draymond Green, DeRozan revealed his thoughts on that 2019 Championship and the narrative surrounding his exit from the Raptors.
“That whole narrative was just frustrating, to where it was like, alright, damn social media. So by the time they got to the Finals, I think I ended up leaving the country and getting away from everything and everybody and my phone,” DeRozan said. “I’m happy to this day, I’m happy for the city, I’m happy for those guys that won it and everything, but you know, of course, that was my goal; my goal was to be the one to make that happen.”
The 4x All-Star also recently went into details about the moment he found out he was traded, which is truly heartbreaking to hear.
He was like ‘so yeah, we just traded you to San Antonio. I just wanted to let you know it’s going to come out in the morning. And I was like, literally bro, I touched the driver, I said ‘stop the car.’ I got out the car and just walked down the street, hung up the phone, and just sat outside at a Jack-in-the-Box for two hours.
It was one of the toughest times ever because I really didn’t have no guidance with this sh-t.”
Now, DeRozan is making the most of his talents in Chicago, where he has become an essential member of their team.
Whether or not he’ll ever make his way back to the Raptors at some point remains to be seen.
