Hours before the 2018 All-Star game, a tweet from DeMar DeRozan sent shock waves throughout the NBA world. Many athletes were experiencing similar emotions, but none expressed their depression story like the former Raptor. The ones who are unfamiliar with the story can now refer to his book, “Above the Noise: My Story of Chasing Calm” to find out more about what DeRozan went through during those moments. The swingman narrated about the dark times and how it affected his mental health. DeRozan chose to go back to square one and speak about his true emotions in front of Toronto’s young minds. But little did he anticipate the kind of gesture his ex-franchise would show him.

The promotional tour turned out to be a big success for DeRozan. The Toronto Raptors came out in full support of the forward by buying 240 copies of his book. Overwhelmed with the $6720 sales ($28 per copy), the 35-year-old posted an expired Instagram story to express his gratitude. After thanking the hosts, CAMH and Marci Ien, DeRozan inserted a salute emoji for the Raptors as they bought multiple copies for the youth groups.

Additionally, DeRozan shared another post of NBA Canada on his IG story which showed glimpses of his Toronto visit for the new venture. The fans turned out in numbers and seeing his former Raptors teammate achieve new heights, Norman Powell commented, “Legend 💯🐐“ on the post along with a GOAT emoji.

Following his 2009 Draft, DeRozan formed a strong bond with the Raptors. In his nine seasons, the California-born topped the list of the highest scorers in the franchise with 13,296 points. However, the Raptors decided to part ways with him in 2018, which created friction between him and the organization. During the last few months at the franchise, when talks about his trade started floating, he started experiencing a sense of depression.

DeMar DeRozan opens up about his depression and escape from it

DeRozan was having sleepless nights. When disturbing thoughts kept coming instead of sleep, like any modern-day individual, he started scrolling YouTube. To his surprise, he found exactly what he was looking for: help. A video by Hollywood comedian, Jim Carrey popped up which was related to mental health. Unknowingly, the Dumb and Dumber actor’s story helped DeRozan to stay put. The 6-time All-Star could relate to Carrey’s story.

Before he knew it, it was around 3 a.m. DeRozan chose not to conceal his emotions this time. He felt the need to express them publicly through social media. He wrote, “This depression get the best of me …” on Twitter (now X). The next day before the All-Star practice, he found out that not only were his agent and teammates worried about him, but so were the league officials. It did take DeRozan time to come out of the dark web of depression and present his story to the world. His experience would hopefully impact others and encourage them to reach out at the right time instead of holding their feelings.

Coming back to his professional life. He was eventually traded from the Raptors to the Spurs in 2018, then the Bulls three years later, and finally he has inked his new contract with the Sacramento Kings recently. However, he seems to have a different plan for his potential future. During a recent interview on CTV’s Your Morning, DeMar DeRozan stated, “I’m not sure how much time I’ve got left, but it would be very poetic to go out in a place where it all started from.” That’s how he wishes to end his NBA career, at the Raptors.