DeMar DeRozan and the Sacramento Kings traveled to Canada to play against the Toronto Raptors on Saturday. The same night, Vince Carter, their franchise star before Chris Bosh, had his No. 15 jersey retired by the organization.
Raptors fans came to the Scotiabank Arena to honor their former star player. Among the crowd was a familiar face, Drake, who often attends to support the Toronto team. During the game, the announcers had the chance to feature the Canadian rapper on their broadcast.
When Drake showed up for the game’s broadcast, he poked fun at DeRozan. The musician talked about a potential banner for the former Raptors star. He also discussed his ideas in case the group decided to devote one to the California native.
“If you ever put up a DeRozan banner up, I’ll go up there and pull it down myself,” Drake said.
Following Drake’s remarks on the NBA player, Lou Williams defended the Kings star and referred to Drake as “selfish.”
“If I’mma speak candidly, I thought that was delfish of Drake,” Williams said. “I say that because Drake, as well as the country of Canada, the city of Toronto, they know what DeMar DeRozan has contributed to the culture up there and what he’s contributed to the Toronto Raptors and to that community.
“It goes way bigger than his personal relationship with Drake, it goes way bigger than his personal relationship with Kendrick Lamar. So for Drake to say, ‘If yoy put up a banner and I’ll personally pull it down,’ it’s like, is it just about you or is it about the Toronto Raptors.”
Lou Williams says he thought it was selfish of Drake to take jabs at DeRozen, knowing how much he contributed to the Raptors
🎥: @RunItBackFDTV pic.twitter.com/YrjWr0FmiM
— Glock Topickz (@Glock_Topickz) November 5, 2024
Lou Williams and DeMar DeRozan played together for the Raptors in the 2014–15 NBA season.
What’s the history behind DeMar DeRozan and Drake?
While DeMar DeRozan and Drake started as friends, the latter’s beef with Kendrick Lamar has strained their relationship. The Canadian rapper got into a beef with the American rapper after Lamar dismissed the idea of himself, Drizzy and J. Cole as the three best rap artists in the song “Like That.”
Drake responded with the song “Push Ups,” where he dissed Lamar’s height and talents. The 38-year-old rapper followed it up with the song “Taylor Made Freestyle,” which featured AI-generated voices from Snoop Dogg and the late Tupac Shakur.
Lamar’s first answer, “Euphoria,” was a diss on Drake’s parenting approach. The musician also claimed in the song that Drizzy had plastic surgery to get his abs. Additionally, he published “6:16 in LA,” to which the artist responded with the song “Family Matters.”
Lamar released another diss tune, “Meet the Grahams,” in which he criticized Drake’s parenting style. “Not Like Us” was the 37-year-old artist’s next release, and it quickly became a smash. The NBA stars, including DeMar DeRozan, attended the Compton native’s show, “The Pop Out: Ken & Friends,”
DeMar DeRozan speaks on being in Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” video:
“I love Drake… but Kendrick damn near family.”pic.twitter.com/hnTVh11oyO
— Complex Music (@ComplexMusic) July 10, 2024
The Kings player was also featured in the song’s music video, released on Independence Day.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen with Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
