“I want to inspire those who have lost confidence in themselves”

Author of an All-NBA caliber campaign last season, DeMar DeRozan probably had the best season of his career for his first year in the Bulls jersey. But above all, he closed many mouths on the way, proving at the same time that he remained one of the most formidable scorers on the circuit. Something to inspire those who – like him at one point – are in the trough.

28 points on average, with 5 rebounds and 5 assists, all at more than 50% shooting success including 35% at 3-points and 88% at free throws. DeMar DeRozan’s line of stats from last year speaks for itself, yet it doesn’t say it all. Offensive cards, there were a shovel of them but it was above all the way in which DMDR carried Chicago that marked the spirits. Between the records that took him into the stratosphere of Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan, the mid-range mixtapes sent to opposing defenses, and obviously the huge buzzer-beaters he planted during the season, DeRozan was on a another planet, so much so that he was at one point in the race for the MVP before the Bulls collapsed due in part to injuries.

This 2021-22 campaign will probably remain as the best of DeMar’s career (named in the All-NBA Second Team, as we recall), when we were perhaps least expecting it given that the he All-Star rearman was coming out of a stint in San Antonio where he had fallen into a bit of indifference (no All-Star selection, only a Playoffs campaign played, all that in a small market). We are therefore in front of a beautiful redemption story, which should serve as an inspiration for the main interested party (via The Athletic).

“I hope I can be a source of inspiration for those who have lost their self-confidence. Or those who encounter an obstacle on their way, and struggle to find a solution. There is always a way out. You can’t let go mentally, you can’t doubt yourself. You can’t get caught up in what other people say regarding you, or the expectations that are placed on you. As long as you truly believe in yourself and your work ethic, that’s all that matters, and it’s going to pay off. »

Obstacles, DeMar DeRozan has known, as many in his personal life than in his life as a basketball player. Doubts, too, especially when he was in San Antonio following being transferred by his heart team from the Toronto Raptors. Because even if he managed to develop many aspects of his game under the orders of Gregg Popovich, at the same time he began to question some of his abilities that characterized him (via the podcast The Old Man and the Three).

“For three years, I doubted myself playing in San Antonio. I asked myself questions regarding my ability to be the player I was in Toronto. I don’t want to take anything away from San Antonio because Pop taught me so much, but the transition was tough and I lost some of that confidence that drove me. […] On top of that, it spoke so much regarding me, it said I’ll never be the same player once more and all that. And sometimes I believed it. »

DeMar DeRozan knows what it means to lose confidence. But above all he knows what to do to win it back: work, stop his ears, find sources of motivation, and move on.

During Free Agency 2021, before he signed with the Bulls for $ 82 million over three years, DMDR saw certain franchises dare to offer him a contract … minimum, as if he were a completely burned player at 32 years old . And that inevitably he took it as an insult. Pointed out by analytics specialists and considered an attacker with a style of play not suited to the current NBA, DeRozan returned with a knife between his teeth, like a Taurus who sees red. “The mid-distance shoot is no longer fashionable? Too bad, I control it so much on the fingertips that I will smash all those who have disrespected me”. That’s basically the mentality that DeRozan had last season. And the rest, you know it.

For many, DeMar DeRozan was a has-been just a year ago. Since then, the rear has taken advantage of his arrival in the legendary Bulls franchise to return to the front of the stage, and thus delight Chicago fans who have been enjoying the purity of his offensive game for several months. The kind of redemption story we love.

Sources texte : The Athletic / The Old Man and the Three podcast