DeMar DeRozan is returning to where it all began, and he’s doing it with nothing but love for the city of Toronto.
The Sacramento Kings star will face his former team when the 2025 preseason tips off against the Raptors on Wednesday.
Despite being caught up in the now-infamous Drake–Kendrick Lamar feud earlier this year, DeRozan says there’s no bitterness toward the city he once carried on his back.
“That’s home,” DeRozan told reporters Tuesday, via NBC Sports Bay Area. “That’s where my whole career started. That’s where I became the player I am today. The Raptors organization definitely always going to hold a special place, regardless. 10 years, 20 years, 30 years from now, there’s nothing that can ever replace that feeling that I had in my years there. It’s always cool to see familiar faces that are still there.”
Born and raised in Compton, California, the same hometown as Kendrick Lamar, DeRozan spent nine seasons in Toronto, becoming one of the franchise’s most beloved players.
And while his name was dragged into last season’s rap beef between Drake and Lamar, he made it clear no diss track could tarnish his bond with the city.
“I don’t care, what I did there, I put my life on the line every single night that I stepped on that court,” DeRozan said. “Nothing and nobody could ever take that away. I don’t get caught up in shenanigans, all that comes with it. At the end of the day, I hoop, I go out there, every true fan and every person who knows me there knows I represent that place more than anybody who ever came through there.”
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