saturday night, the Toronto Raptors retired their first player jersey ever – Vince Carter’s number 15. He had to be the first.
Who’s next? Kyle Lowry’s jersey belongs on the rooftops, no doubt. What about DeMar DeRozan? DeRozan spent nine seasons with the Raptors, was a four-time All-Star who averaged 19.7 points a game in those years, was integral to some of the best Raptors teams ever, and was beloved in the community. He was traded to the Spurs in 2018 for Kawhi Leonard, but many Toronto fans would love to see DeRozan’s #10 in the rafters.
Not the Raptors’ most famous fan, Drake. He was on the air when the idea was brought up and said, “If you ever put a DeRozan banner up, I’ll go up there and pull it down myself.”
DeRozan is a Los Angeles native — Compton born and raised, went to college at USC — who this summer appeared in the video to “
Not Like Us,” Drake’s record and Kendrick Lamar’s massive hit, which has become another LA anthem (the Dodgers played it at their championship parade). While Drake and DeRozan were tight when he was a Raptor, and DeRozan said they it’s still like that. as far as he’s concerned, drake seemed to take things more personally.
Regarding Drake’s comment, DeRozan said, “He’s going to have a long way to go.”
As always, the lesson here is to stay on Kendrick Lamar’s good side.
