When not many star players candidly spoke about mental health struggles, DeMar DeRozan took the courageous step to share his story with the rest of the world. However, he didn’t anticipate a single tweet would dramatically turn his world upside down. After prolonged suffering, he thought of giving back to the people through his book, “Above the Noise: My Story of Chasing Calm.” In the book, the 35-year-old penned moments from the dark to help others deal with depression. Days after the book’s release, DeRozan’s social media activities once again raised concerns about his mental health within the NBA community.

A sudden tweet from DeRozan on X caught everyone’s attention. “My heart’s so big my scars won’t heal. I get so sick and tired even trying to fix it,” wrote the Sacramento Kings’ new swingman. But it didn’t stop there. Two more tweets followed within a two-minute gap, “I was dying inside, dealing with depression, really lying to myself” and “Intelligence overrides ill intent. Now I gotta fall back, disappear.” These were enough to conclude that DeRozan’s dark times weren’t over and he might be dropping hints again.

The 6-time All-Star first came out in public with his confession through a similar tweet “This depression get the best of me …”  in 2018 hours before his All-Star game appearance. It was during his last few months at the Raptors when DeRozan was going through an emotional turmoil. The same franchise that recently overwhelmed him with their kind gesture of buying 240 copies of his book when he was in Toronto. Throughout his promotional tour, DeRozan emerged with a stronger personality while recounting his experiences with depression.

DeMar DeRozan discloses the truth behind his dark days

During his book promotion tour, DeMar DeRozan made a stop at the First Take studio where he was asked about his condition at the time of his vulnerable tweet compared to the present day. DeRozan responded by saying, “I was extremely lost in not knowing why. Because everything was going so great for me career-wise, at the height of my career, All-Stars winning, everything was going perfect, you know, from a career standpoint, but not knowing emotionally and mentally where I was at.”

He further revealed, “And I think that night tweeting that tweet was me just hitting the wall and everything since then been me kinda trying to build myself back up, you know, from the human standpoint.” When the host, Stephen A. Smith was keen to know about the assistance he received from the NBA, instead of naming anyone DeRozan stated, “I’ve been lucky, to have won some great teammates that was there for me from a brotherhood standpoint that was there for me right away.” He then praised the Heat’s offensive center, Kevin Love for coming out in public to present his story and encouraged others to do it as well.

In the new season, DeRozan would be seen starting a new on-court journey with the Kings. However, his recent tweets could be worrisome for the franchise, who need their big man in peak physical and mental condition to contend in the tough West.