DeRozan took exception to Pascal Siakam attempting a 3-point shot with 3 seconds left and the Raptors leading by 12 points when Siakam could’ve dribbled out the clock. DeRozan angrily chastised the Raptors bench and coach Darko Rajakovic, who told coach Billy Donovan that Siakam attempted the shot because point differential matters for In-Season Tournament ramifications.
The Raptors actually had been eliminated from In-Season Tournament advancement before the game, but apparently, word didn’t get to Rajakovic and Siakam.
“I don’t care about no In-Season Tournament points, none of that. Just respect for the game,” DeRozan said. “If the roles was flip-flopped and I had the ball, hold it. It is what it is.”
I’ve definitely seen Bron openly frustrated with Russ lmao. I’ve also definitely heard Wizards teammates complain.
You ask any old teammates about Demar and everyone loves him lmao. PG hasn’t even played with him and sings songs of praise whenever he gets brought up.
From a player’s perspective, you’ve got a guy who’s been in the league forever, is all about respecting yourself (and others around you), has a stupidly high work ethic, and is very outspoken about mental health issues associated with being in the spotlight like these guys are. Shit, dude had young players on Chicago LIVING WITH HIM in the off-season so they could work out and practice with him even.
Then from an organization standpoint, the dude is a model professional. Didn’t fuck around requesting a trade after being moved to the Spurs, openly talks about how San Antonio was bad for his mental, but but then immediately goes on to say how much he appreciated the support he had from the organization and Pop. He even bought into Pop’s system in San Antonio because he was aware the goal wasn’t winning games, it was helping the young guys get their feet under them. Dude is a scorer and put up 7 assists per game on a tanking team full of young players.
No media shitshows, buys into what coaches say, does his best to support young players, doesn’t request trades, etc… I don’t know how anyone can look at him and see “self centered” lmao
He’s just stuck in his ways of playing 2000’s basketball with no 3pters that every team that had serious contention hopes had to move on from him.
He reminds me of an upgraded, starter version of Lou Will. He’ll get you buckets but they might not be efficient. And that just doesn’t really cut it anymore for a teams’ star player