Photo: Getty Images
Former Toronto Raptors star DeMar DeRozan stunned Drake fans when he appeared to side with Kendrick Lamar following their publicized beef. Now he's clearing the air about his standing with the Canadian MC.
In an interview Fox40 Sports' Sean Cunningham published on Tuesday, July 9, the 34-year-old NBA player opened up about how he feels about Drake after he linked up with K.Dot twice in the past few weeks. DeRozan joined fellow Compton native Russell Westbrook as they went on stage during the finale of Kendrick Lamar's "The Pop Out" concert on Juneteenth, and recently had a cameo in the official "Not Like Us" music video.
“Love Drake. We always could play him,” he said after he was asked if his new team the Sacramento Kings would play Drizzy's music. “Kendrick been a friend of mine — damn near family — for a long time, for a while. We from the same city, grew up damn near in the same neighborhood. So it’s always been there. It hasn’t always been publicized, but that’s basically family.”
After playing for the USC Trojans, DeRozan was picked ninth overall by the Toronto Raptors in the 2009 NBA Draft. During his time with the Raptors, DeRozan built a solid rapport with Drizzy and even got a shout-out in his verse on "Lemon Pepper Freestyle" with his collaborator-turned-foe Rick Ross. “My city love me like DeMar DeRozan," Drake rapped.
DeRozan was traded to the San Antonio Spurs in 2018 and was later traded again to the Chicago Bulls in 2021. In 2024, DeRozan returned to his home state of California after he was traded to the Sacramento Kings in a sign-and-trade deal with the Spurs. His homecoming sparked a specific line in Lamar's "Not Like Us," which led to his cameo in the music video.
“I’m glad DeRoz’ came home, ya’ll didn’t deserve him neither,” Kendrick spits.
Speaking of the video, Kendrick Lamar secured another victory over Drake after the anticipated visuals for the diss track garnered over 44 million views on YouTube. Lamar dropped the video on July 4 — just two months after Drake dropped his music video for "Family Matters," which current has over 36 million views.