DeRozan believes he laid the groundwork for Raptors' Finals appearance
DeMar DeRozan and the Toronto Raptors will forever be intertwined. Both gave each other everything they had until there just wasn’t anything left to give anymore.
After an ugly breakup in July that saw the franchise’s all-time leading scorer traded to San Antonio, it appears that time is steadily healing all wounds as DeRozan now takes pride in helping Toronto get to a point where they are competing in the NBA Finals.
“If it wasn’t for all the years and groundwork that I did before, there, none of them things would have been possible,” DeRozan said on Bleacher Report’s Take it There. “Yes, I fought, I sacrificed, I pushed the limits to where I had to be the sacrificial lamb. You just have to sit back and understand you are the reason so many things were even possible.
“To their credit, they probably felt like it was time to see what we could get to make that next jump.”
Kawhi Leonard was clearly the answer as the Raptors won the Eastern Conference playoff bracket for the first time in franchise history and are currently tied 1-1 in the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors. With DeRozan’s dearest friend and former teammates in action, he made clear that he’s rooting for his former team to get to the promised land.
“My best friend is Kyle [Lowry] so I’m rooting for my best friend, to do well, to accomplish something that we tried to do all them years and he has that opportunity to do it. So, all them guys on that team, they know I’m rooting for ‘em.”
DeRozan also touched on the death of rapper Nipsey Hussle, how his daughters have helped him cope with depression, San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich’s complete lack of social media skills, and even his own mixtape.
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