DeMar DeRozan shared his true feelings on how social media affects NBA players in an appearance on ESPN’s First Take, where DeRozan was promoting his book ‘Above The Noise: My Story Of Chasing Calm.’ DeRozan got real on the constant opinions flooding NBA players’ mentions along with how they have to reconcile with being pieces of ‘content’ for the social media universe.
“We live in such an opinion-based universe now. You can’t express nothing without outside people trying to tear that down… Nowadays you can pick up your phone and see so many opinions placed on you, or you give an opinion right away in real time and that can take anything over the top.”
“We’re all media as soon as we pick up our phone. I think it makes it a lot tougher in ways and I think a lot of the conversations I have is I try to break a lot of stigma that we are scared to have at times because of such an opinion-based world we live in.”
"We live in such a opinion-based universe now. You can't express nothing without outside people trying to tear that down… We all media as soon as we pick up our phone."
DeMar DeRozan on whether it's easier or harder to be in the NBA with social media.pic.twitter.com/mBZzVYfJb4
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 11, 2024
DeRozan is bringing up a very valid point. Even though social media has been around in its current form for decades, it has accelerated in popularity over the last 15 years. The current generation of NBA veterans is the first generation of players to have had to adjust to the prevalence of social media and how it leads to constant criticism every time they open their phones.
The young players entering the league nowadays have been heavily advised against the dangers of social media but players like DeRozan who were drafted in the late 2000s entered the NBA just as these platforms were blowing up and had little oversight.
Balancing real life and reel life is not easy, but DeRozan hopes more players can be careful about finding that balance and protecting their mental health.
DeMar DeRozan Is A Mental Health Advocate After His Personal Struggles
DeMar DeRozan involuntarily found himself becoming a mental health advocate in 2018 after he made a simple tweet about depression getting the best of him.
This depression get the best of me…
— DeMar DeRozan (@DeMar_DeRozan) February 17, 2018
While DeRozan thought he was just conveying the overwhelming feelings of responsibility drowning him as he was an All-Star for the Raptors with title hopes and kept traveling from Toronto to Los Angeles to look after his ailing father. But his comments sparked a worldwide conversation on the mental health of athletes given very few players openly spoke about such feelings at the time.
DeRozan’s tweet inadvertently sparked change. Kevin Love made a famous admission about his struggles with depression while contending for titles with the Cavaliers soon after DeRozan’s tweet, with other notable athletes from around the world following suit. Even the NBA institutes rules to make sure teams are taking care of the mental health of its athletes.
Depression and mental health aren’t taboo topics in the basketball world anymore, primarily because of a simple tweet DeRozan made over six years ago prompting acceptance from fans and other players about this cold reality everyone has to deal with.
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