The summer of 2024 is one of the most memorable moment for rap fans when Drake and Kendrick Lamar started beefing with each other. It spilled over to the basketball world when the latter featured NBA player DeMar Derozan in the music video. There was also a K-Dot concert where LeBron James and James Harden was present and vibing to that diss track that calls Drake many names.
Derozan in the MV should not that be a huge deal except he and Drake were good friends when he was still with Toronto Raptors. The Canadian singer was even among the first to reach out to him when the Raptors traded him away in 2018 to get Kawhi Leonard.
“To my brother @demar_derozan I want to say 10 million thank you’s on behalf of YOUR city. You are a fixture in Toronto forever and you gave everything you had,” Drake wrote on an Instagram post that has since been deleted.
“Through your leadership we had the most exciting years in franchise history. I am grateful to have witnessed your combination of skill, persistence, and loyalty from the same seats every night. Thank you for being an incredible captain and an even better friend.”
Drake had natural reactions to the Sacramento Kings star’s appearance in the video. He said in a broadcast ““If you ever put a DeRozan banner up I’ll go up there and pull it down myself.”
He also dissed the 6x All-Star in another track and threw his jersey during a Raptors game.
It should be noted, however, that Derozan is a Compton native and his appearance in the video is him repping his hometown.
DeMar Derozan says Drake is still his man
Derozan responded to that Drake comment shortly after it got out. Although his response was not positive, he has a different view of their relationship this time.
“Drake’s still my man, still my man, none of it changed,” DeRozan told Sacramento Bee.
“It’s so easy to get overlooked and look at it for what it looks like, but at the end of the day it’s music, entertainment.”
This all started because of the fall out between drake and Kendrick and to Derozan, it is all just two persons being competitive, like in the game of basketball.
“Two of the biggest rappers in the world went at it from a competitive standpoint and they battled it out. That’s what you want to see as a fan: Kobe (Bryant) playing (Michael) Jordan 1-on-1 and see who wins, see the trash talking, and whoever wins out of that, you’re still going to have the debate, so that’s all that is.”
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