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Drake infamously referred to his beef with Kendrick Lamar, other rappers, and celebrities as a “20 v 1,” and it may be more than 20 when adding up everyone who’s done things that can be perceived as against him. Take DeMar DeRozan for example, whom he went back-and-forth with at the recent Toronto Raptors and Sacramento Kings game.
The 38-year-old rapper was courtside at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday evening (Nov. 2,) as he often is, but it was a special occasion this time; Vince Carter became the first former Raptors player to have his number retired by the franchise. Despite the emotional celebration, the Raptors’ Global Ambassador still had some petty energy to put into the air.
Footage showed him and longtime friend Chubbs standing up and glaring at DeRozan, a former Raptors player, when he was on the court. At one point, in true Drizzy fashion, he got on the commentary microphone and spoke with the game’s announcers. “If you ever put up a DeRozan banner, I’ll go up there and pull it down myself,” he said during an interview. At another point in the evening, when discussing the significance of VC’s jersey retirement, the 6 God said “Unfortunately, we’re playing this goof [DeRozan] tonight, but it is what it is.”
DeMar DeRozan had a chance to be the hero and send the game into overtime with a game-tying three-pointer, but he missed the shot. As the Sacramento Kings and Toronto Raptors players exited the court, Drake could be seen mouthing “F**k outta here, pussy.”
In the post-game press conference, reporters asked the six-time All-Star for his thoughts on the Toronto rapper saying he would pull his banner down if the Raptors ever gave him one. “Well he gon’ have a long way to climb to take it down, so tell him good luck,” DeRozan said before exiting the podium.
Later that evening on his Instagram story, the Compton-born hooper responded to the situation with a clip from Ice Cube and Chris Tucker’s 1995 movie Friday. “Man sit yo a** down,” Cube’s character Craig told Tucker’s character Smokey as the antagonist, Deebo, left their presence. “Man, I got mind control over Deebo,” Smokey said in response. “He be like ‘Shut the f**k up.’ I be quiet. But when he leave, I be talkin’ again.” The clip was especially fitting as Friday is set in South Central Los Angeles, near Compton, where DeRozan and Kendrick Lamar are from.
This begs the question: Why is Drake angry at DeMar DeRozan, one of the best players ever to don the Toronto Raptors’ jersey, who spent nine seasons with the team and was on record being his good friend? It all goes back to his feud with Kendrick Lamar a few months ago. In June, when K. Dot held his concert The Pop Out in Los Angeles, DeRozan was captured on stage dancing to “Not Like Us.” He doubled down in July when he appeared in the music video for the track.
The 35-year-old hooper had been asked about his relationship with the For All The Dogs rapper following the two appearances and assured people that he still had love for him. “Love Drake, always can play him,” he told FOX40 when asked if he could still play Drake’s music following his feud with the Pulitzer Prize winner. “[But] Kendrick been a friend of mine—Damn near family, we both from the same city. Grew up damn near in the same neighborhood, but it’s always been there, it hasn’t been always publicized, but that’s basically family.”
Kendrick Lamar made this clear on “Not Like Us,” when he rapped “I’m glad DeRoz’ came home, y’all didn’t deserve him neither,” referring to DeRozan joining the Sacramento Kings this past summer after stints with the Raptors, San Antonio Spurs, and Chicago Bulls.
In another interview, DeRozan doubled down and stated that they are still friends, but he did what he did for the culture. “Drake’s still my man, still my man, none of it changed,” he told The Sacramento Bee. “It’s so easy to get overlooked and look at it for what it looks like, but at the end of the day it’s music, entertainment. Two of the biggest rappers in the world went at it from a competitive standpoint and they battled it out.”
As for being at The Pop Out and in the “Not Like Us” music video, Derozan said: “It was fun to be a part of. For that moment, it was so much bigger than what people look at it as a beef between (Lamar) and Drake. It brought our whole city together in a different type of light where there wasn’t no issues, no violence. Everybody was coming together in a peaceful manner and that was the beauty out of those moments.”
Given the fact DeRozan was one of the people Drake unfollowed on Instagram over these last few months, it is safe to believe that Drake felt betrayed; especially by someone whom he comforted in a difficult time. DeRozan spoke with Shannon Sharpe on a 2021 episode of Club Shay Shay about being traded from the Toronto Raptors to the San Antonio Spurs in 2018.
DeMar DeRozan was devastated, especially after being told he would not be traded, and the five-time Grammy winner welcomed him into his home to talk for hours. “When it come to him, he’ll forever have a friend in me and loyalty out of me because he cared,” DeRozan told Shannon Sharpe. “He was there for me when everything was just going crazy.”
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