DeMar

DeRozan

NBA All-Star & Olympic gold medalist

 

DeMar Darnell DeRozan was born on August 7, 1989, in Compton, CA., to Frank and Diane DeRozan. Born and raised in Compton, DeMar had to overcome one of the more dangerous neighborhoods in the United States. While Compton serves as a home to some of Hip-Hop's most legendary names such as Dr. Dre, Easy-E, and Kendrick Lamar, it also serves as grounds for gangs and exponential crime. In fact, Diane named DeMar after her brother, LeMar, who was a college football player gunned down at just age 20 by a childhood friend. DeMar first dunked a basketball when he was in sixth grade. Word quickly spread about him in the area, and by the time he was prepared to enter ninth grade, the 12-year-old was being recruited by several schools. Located across the street from his house, DeMar decided to attend Compton High School. As a freshman DeMar averaged 26.1 points and 8.4 rebounds a game, leading Compton to its first playoff berth in years. Compton natives began to call him 'Deebo', after the tall and vicious character in the comedy Friday, starring Ice Cube. Over his fours years at Compton High, DeMar became one of the most respected and well-known athletes in the city. Even the gangs that terrorized the city knew that the kid with a future in basketball was off-limits. DeMar led Compton to two consecutive Moore League Championships during his junior and senior seasons. As a senior he averaged 29.2 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 3.0 steals, leading Compton High to a 24-6 overall record. In 2008, after much success at Compton High, DeMar was named a McDonalds All-American, First Team Parade All-American, L.A Times All-Star, Moore League MVP, and the Southern California Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association I-AA Player of the Year. DeMar also won the Slam Dunk Competition at the McDonalds All-American Game with perfect scores on his last two dunks. Ranked as the eighth player in the country by ESPN.com, DeMar stayed true to his roots and decided to play collegiately for the University of Southern California. DeMar averaged 13.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and made 52.3% of his shots, while starting in all 35 games as a freshman at USC. DeMar recorded four double-doubles during the season and scored in double figures in 28 of 35 games, earning him Pac-10 All-Freshman Team honors. Over USC's 5 postseason games, DeRozan averaged 19.8 points, leading the Trojans to a win in the Championship game and helping him secure Pac-10 Tournament MVP honors. After one season at USC, DeMar declared for the 2009 NBA Draft, primarily to help his mother live more comfortably in her battle with Lupus. The Toronto Raptors selected DeMar with the ninth overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. He became the first player in team history to start 82 games in multiple seasons heading into the 2013-2014 campaign. DeMar was the first Raptor to score 30 points in multiple playoff games since Vince Carter and ended his first career playoff series against the Brooklyn Nets with averages of 23.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.6 assists. DeMar was named Eastern Conference Player of the Month three times in nine seasons with Toronto and led the Raptors to five playoff runs in nine years, including two Eastern Conference Finals. In his nine seasons as a Raptor, DeMar averaged 19.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.0 steals. He is the franchise leader in wins, points, made field goals, made free throws, total minutes played, and regular season games played. DeMar was acquired by the San Antonio Spurs through trade in the summer of 2018. In his first year with the Spurs, DeMar averaged 21.2 points, along with career highs of 6.0 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game. Behind DeMar's stellar play in 2019, the Spurs tied the NBA record of 22 consecutive playoff appearances. During the 2019-20 season that was cut short due to COVID-19, DeMar averaged 22.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.6 assists in 68 games played. Going 5-3 in the NBA Bubble, the Spurs were in contention for the eighth seed in the Western Conference until the final day of regular season play. DeMar is a four-time NBA All-Star and two-time All-NBA team member. He won gold medals with the United States Men's National Basketball Team in the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. DeMar continues to be a spokesman for Lupus Canada, helping to bring awareness to the autoimmune disease that his mother Diane was diagnosed with several years ago. He has been open about his struggles with depression by publicly sharing his own experiences, with the hope to build awareness and put the spotlight on the importance of mental health and well-being.

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