Former NBA guard Lou Williams, who spent a season with the Toronto Raptors during his lengthy career, called rapper Drake “selfish” for hating on DeMar DeRozan.
Drake's beef w/ Kendrick Lamar now involves DeMar DeRozan 😬
"I thought that was selfish of Drake." – @TeamLou23
"If it means that we're gonna see Drake trying to climb up the rafters, then I think this was all worth it… Oh Jimmy." – @MichelleDBeadle https://t.co/HxBKgNWeeQ pic.twitter.com/k7aPmB8X2V
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) November 4, 2024
DeRozan, a first-round pick by the Raptors in the 2009 NBA Draft, is now with the Sacramento Kings, and he returned to Toronto for a recent game.
With the Raptors recently retiring Vince Carter’s jersey, Drake made a statement during the broadcast of the Kings-Raptors matchup, saying that he’d pull down DeRozan’s banner himself if the franchise ever retired his number.
“If you ever put up a DeRozan banner, I’ll pull that thing down myself”
— Drake on DeMar DeRozan pic.twitter.com/l0fdlKFO4b
— NFR Podcast (@nfr_podcast) November 3, 2024
That prompted a response from DeRozan, who was asked about the comments following the game.
DeMar DeRozan responds to Drake 👀
“He’s going to have a long way to climb… tell him goodluck” https://t.co/fGsGAkHCnW pic.twitter.com/IO5ofV551W
— NFR Podcast (@nfr_podcast) November 3, 2024
After spending the first nine years of his NBA career in Toronto, DeRozan was traded to the San Antonio Spurs prior to the 2018-19 season in the deal that brought Kawhi Leonard to the Raptors.
It was a major move at the time, especially since DeRozan had been such a great player for Toronto, averaging 19.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game in 675 games with the franchise.
However, the move paid off, as Toronto went on to win a title with Leonard leading the way in the 2018-19 campaign.
Since being traded from Toronto, DeRozan has played with the Spurs, Chicago Bulls and now is in his first season with the Kings. The former lottery pick has yet to win an NBA title, and he’s only been to the playoffs twice – once with San Antonio and once with Chicago – since being traded from Toronto.
Even though DeRozan did a lot of the Raptors organization during his time there, it appears that Drake doesn’t have much love for the six-time All-Star.
Earlier this year, Drake and rapper Kendrick Lamar sent diss tracks back and forth at each other, DeRozan appeared in a music video for one of Lamar’s songs.
DeMar DeRozan makes appearance in Kendrick’s ‘Not Like Us’ video pic.twitter.com/Fuw8KTivQ5
— Complex (@Complex) July 4, 2024
He also joined Lamar on stage during a concert in the summer.
Russ and DeMar DeRozan hop on stage with Kendrick 🔥 pic.twitter.com/0MyGPrgEtt
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 20, 2024
It appears that Drake wasn’t a huge fan of DeRozan’s support for his rival artist, and it’s likely what led to his comments about the Kings star.
Williams, who played with DeRozan in the 2014-15 season in Toronto, seems to think it was wrong for the rapper to make such a comment about a franchise legend.
