Saturday was supposed to be all about Vince Carter. However, attention soon drifted to a beef between a former team superstar, DeMar DeRozan, and the current Raptors’ Global Ambassador, Drake.
DeRozan was in town for Carter’s jersey retirement as the Sacramento Kings — DeMar’s current squad — took on the Toronto Raptors. It laid the stage for a summertime beef to continue between himself and Toronto-born hip-hop star Drake.
During TSN’s broadcast of the Raptors-Kings clash, Drake said, with his whole chest, “If you ever put up a DeRozan banner, I’ll pull that thing down myself.” Drake also appeared to be staring down DeRozan throughout the contest and called him a “goof” while on air.
It’s a weird, awkward situation for Raptors fans as DeRozan’s legacy and Drake’s importance to the team came into focus in a way no one could really see coming. DeMar and Drake appeared to be longtime friends until DeRozan appeared to take L.A.-based rapper Kendrick Lamar’s side in a high-profile rap beef that stole headlines this summer.
After the game, DeMar, who many believe is a lock to have his number retired by the Raptors franchise when his career is said and done, clapped back when a reporter brought Drake’s on-air comment’s to the attention of DeRozan.
DeRozan followed up his brief post-game clap-back with an Instagram story featuring a clip from the cult-classic Friday, potentially insinuating that Drake would be afraid to actually come face-to-face.
The conflict between DeRozan and Drake appears to stem from the former’s association with Los Angeles-based rapper Kendrick Lamar, particularly after DeRozan cameo’d in the music video of Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us” — a song which targets the Toronto-born rapper with, among others, accusations of him being a pedophile — this past July.
The Kendrick tune also includes lyrics that suggest Toronto did not deserve DeRozan while he played for the Raptors. As the beef between Kendrick and Drake started to die down, DeMar, in a follow-up interview with The Sacramento Bee in July, responded to his appearance in the controversial video, saying him and Drake were still on good terms.
“Drake’s still my man, still my man, none of it changed,” said DeRozan.
DeRozan also appeared on stage at Lamar’s June 14 Pop Out event in Los Angeles last June.
DeRozan, who was born and raised in Compton, the same neighbourhood as Lamar, explained in that aforementioned Sacramento Bee story that Kendrick is like family to him, but that doesn’t mean he and Drake can’t still be cool.
“At the end of the day it’s music, entertainment,” DeRozan said. “Two of the biggest rappers in the world went at it from a competitive standpoint and they battled it out.”
DeRozan also said in a 2021 interview that Drake will “always have loyalty from me.”
Clearly, Drake felt after all his support over the years that DeRozan should have taken his side amid the high-profile rap-star beef, spawning Drake’s degrading comments toward DeRozan during Saturday’s national broadcast.
Fans took to social platform X to give their take on the beef between one of the best players in franchise history and the Raptors’ global ambassador.
Drake is right to be pissed at Derozan. He’s done a lot for him + they seemed to have a genuine relationship but at the end of the day he showed up for a music video calling his friend a pedo. What’s lame is Drake tryna press someone he wouldnt have this energy for face to face😂
— chromaphobia (@frostedtakes_) November 3, 2024
Drake energy towards Demar Derozan is just another example of him being corny.
— Andre James (@DonQTalk) November 3, 2024
Naturally, Drake’s in-game comments also sparked some debate over whether or not DeRozan should, indeed have his jersey retired by the franchise when his career comes to a close.
DeMar DeRozan’s jersey will be retired by the Toronto Raptors and there’s nothing Drake can do about it. The man put in work for that franchise for a decade. You can’t erase his legacy.
— Dwayne (@itsDwayneB) November 3, 2024
Yall actually gotta be stupid if you don’t think DeMar DeRozan is getting his jersey retired by the Raptors.
— 𝔻𝕖𝔹𝕒𝕝𝕝 (@WfromDeBall) November 3, 2024
DeRozan is the all time leader for a lot of the stars in Toronto so his jersey being retired isn’t crazy at all
— H.G.I.C (@GroovyyGert) November 4, 2024
Despite differing opinions from fans, it’s hard to see a scenario where DeRozan’s jersey isn’t retired by the Raptors whenever his career comes to a close.
DeRozan, who spent nine seasons in Toronto from 2009-18, is currently the Raptors’ all-time leader in points scored with 13,296 and games played with 675 — surpassing other notable franchise stars like Vince Carter and Chris Bosh, en route to the milestone.
During his time with the Raptors, DeRozan was selected to the NBA All-Star Game four times (2013–2016), and was crucial in leading the team to its first-ever Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 2015-16 while being a central figure during a run of 50-plus win seasons from 2015-18. He was also arguably the team’s third-ever homegrown superstar after Carter and Bosh, before he was eventually traded in a deal that delivered Kawhi Leonard to Toronto.
That said, not too sure Drake is going to have much of a say in this one — that ladder might be coming out after all.