Ironically, it was on the plane from Chicago to San Antonio that DeMar DeRozan learned of his tenure at the next All-Star Game. Like a captain on board, it was Zach LaVine who took the microphone to announce the good news to the whole team.
“Your attention please, this is the captain speaking to you from flight number 8, the LaVine flight. We’re on our way to San Antonio with some big news to announce for our guy DeMar DeRozan and his fifth All-Star Game selection this year.”
Arrived in Illinois from the Spurs, DeMar DeRozan took a step forward in Chicago, already reinforced at the end of last season by the arrival of Nikola Vucevic, his former teammate at USC University.
The one who considered himself “the sacrificed lamb” which allowed Toronto to recover Kawhi Leonard in 2018 and to be NBA champion in stride thus takes a great revenge on these last years. And his presence as a starter is completely deserved since DeMar DeRozan is having his best career season offensively with more than 26 points per game.
Waiting for Zach LaVine?
The one who also distinguished himself by slamming two “buzzer beaters” in the space of 24 hours at the beginning of the month confided that he had fed on criticism to return to the top.
“It’s always a motivation”, did he declare. “You always try to find some type of motivation from your detractors and those who doubt you. I let what I do on the pitch speak for me about that, but at the same time, I use that ‘hate’, if you can call it that. It’s like a free source of energy, you know? I use it to take mental advantage when I hear that I can’t do something or that I’m not like this or that. We always use that as a kind of motivation.
DeMar DeRozan also had a word for the one-night captain who is also lining up big stats this season. He would have seen Zach LaVine instead of a Trae Young…
“I think Zach should have been there too. You see it in the reaction of the players. It’s not against Trae at all, but it would have been great to have both of us as starters. There’s no doubt he’ll be here next week.”, he added, referring to the announcement of the list of replacements for the all-star game scheduled for February 20.
No doubt he will also receive a nice ovation this evening on the Spurs floor.
| DeMar DeRozan | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2009-10 | TOR | 77 | 22 | 49.8 | 25.0 | 76.3 | 0.9 | 2.0 | 2.9 | 0.7 | 2.3 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 8.6 |
| 2010-11 | TOR | 82 | 35 | 46.7 | 9.6 | 81.3 | 0.9 | 2.9 | 3.8 | 1.8 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 17.2 |
| 2011-12 | TOR | 63 | 35 | 42.2 | 26.1 | 81.0 | 0.6 | 2.7 | 3.4 | 2.0 | 2.6 | 0.8 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 16.7 |
| 2012-13 | TOR | 82 | 37 | 44.5 | 28.3 | 83.1 | 0.6 | 3.3 | 3.9 | 2.5 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 0.3 | 18.1 |
| 2013-14 | TOR | 79 | 38 | 42.9 | 30.5 | 82.4 | 0.7 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 2.5 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 0.4 | 22.7 |
| 2014-15 | TOR | 60 | 35 | 41.3 | 28.4 | 83.2 | 0.7 | 3.9 | 4.6 | 3.5 | 2.0 | 1.2 | 2.3 | 0.2 | 20.1 |
| 2015-16 | TOR | 78 | 36 | 44.6 | 33.8 | 85.0 | 0.8 | 3.7 | 4.5 | 4.0 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 2.2 | 0.3 | 23.5 |
| 2016-17 | TOR | 74 | 35 | 46.7 | 26.6 | 84.2 | 1.0 | 4.3 | 5.2 | 3.9 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 2.4 | 0.2 | 27.3 |
| 2017-18 | TOR | 80 | 34 | 45.6 | 31.0 | 82.5 | 0.7 | 3.2 | 3.9 | 5.2 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 0.3 | 23.0 |
| 2018-19 | SAN | 77 | 35 | 48.1 | 15.6 | 83.0 | 0.7 | 5.3 | 6.0 | 6.2 | 2.3 | 1.1 | 2.6 | 0.5 | 21.2 |
| 2019-20 | SAN | 68 | 34 | 53.1 | 25.7 | 84.5 | 0.7 | 4.9 | 5.5 | 5.6 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 2.4 | 0.3 | 22.1 |
| 2020-21 | SAN | 61 | 34 | 49.5 | 25.7 | 88.0 | 0.7 | 3.6 | 4.3 | 6.9 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 21.6 |
| 2021-22 | CHI | 43 | 35 | 49.7 | 32.9 | 85.5 | 0.8 | 4.2 | 5.0 | 4.8 | 2.3 | 0.8 | 2.2 | 0.4 | 26.4 |
| Total | 924 | 34 | 46.2 | 28.4 | 83.4 | 0.7 | 3.6 | 4.4 | 3.9 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 2.1 | 0.3 | 20.4 | |
