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DeMar DeRozan Opens Up About Watching Raptors Win NBA Championship

DeMar DeRozan got screwed badly. No Raptors player has ever embraced the city of Toronto like him, and no Raptors player has ever reached the stats he’s reached. DeMar left town being the Raptors’ all-time leader in games played, minutes and points.

But the NBA is a business and DeMar DeRozan got reminded of exactly that during last year’s offseason when the Raptors traded him to the San Antonio Spurs.

The rest is history. DeRozan’s trade counterpart Kawhi Leonard led the Raptors to their first NBA title in history, before leaving town again after doing so. DeRozan now opened up about the Raptors winning a title without him, admitting that there are some sad feelings, but an overall happiness for the team and his former teammates.

“We all human. We all feel some type of way, when you see a previous situation you were part of accomplish something great that you were after when you were there, of course. But, at the same time, the relationship I have with a lot of those guys, I was happy. Good for them. Happy for them. I spent a lot of time with a few of them guys this offseason. It was good for them.

I spent nine years of my basketball career there. Even at times when I see pictures seeing my jersey on the crowd, you are there somehow. You got to be happy with that.”

DeMar DeRozan, on what it was like watching Toronto celebrate a championship the summer after he was dealt away: pic.twitter.com/lwcdUxJIR3

— Jeff McDonald (@JMcDonald_SAEN) September 30, 2019