When the Toronto Raptors traded DeMar DeRozan, his entire world seemed to come crashing down. He had built a home in Toronto, and in the blink of an eye, he was heading to San Antonio. Little did he know, his trade to the Spurs would be one of the best things to happen in his career — not for his basketball performance but for the relationship he’d develop with head coach Gregg Popovich.
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DeRozan’s three years in San Antonio weren’t short of hardships. He was living away from his family and eventually dealt with the passing of his father, Frank. During Frank’s final moments, Popovich allowed DeRozan to travel to California to be at his father’s bedside.
When Frank passed away, DeRozan requested time away from the team. The Spurs were in Charlotte to face the Hornets at the time. Before DeMar hopped on a plane to Los Angeles, Popovich showed up at his hotel room.
“Pop sat in the room and cried with me for two hours,” DeRozan said on The 25/10 Show. “That just showed the person who he was.”
The five-time championship-winning coach didn’t hide who he was as a person. He would even use practice time to highlight how insignificant basketball is in the grand scheme of things.
“There used to be days we’ll come in there and we think we have practice, and he’ll pull up some s*** going on in a third-world country with 13-year-old kids being trained to be killers,” DeRozan said on 7 PM in Brooklyn.
Of course, DeRozan isn’t saying that Popovich didn’t love or prioritize the game of basketball. But he is saying that Pop understood that basketball isn’t everything. Eventually, players will have to step away from the game. Their relationships with friends and family are what truly last forever.
“He’ll put it in perspective like, ‘Man, we get to come here, shoot a basketball, make millions of dollars. Take care of your kids.’ He used to do a lot of things to put s*** in perspective,” DeRozan proclaimed.
Although DeRozan reached the postseason only once in his brief tenure with the Spurs, his time with the franchise was arguably the most impactful of his career, as it helped shape him into the person he is today, apart from basketball. Popovich holds a special place in his heart for all the lessons he taught.
