DeRozan details motivation for behind-scenes videos originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
DeMar DeRozan is largely a private person.
Sure, he always has been accommodating with the media. In fact, he earned the Magic Johnson award in 2018, given annually by the Professional Basketball Writers Association to the player who best combines on-court excellence with cooperation and dignity off it.
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But until he first revealed his struggles with depression in a 2018 interview with the Toronto Star and later became an advocate for mental health awareness, he hasn’t revealed much of himself other than professionalism and lots and lots of buckets.
That is changing again with DeRozan’s decision to star in a series of video diaries of his summer. The first two episodes of #Comp10 Summer ’22 are out on DeRozan’s YouTube channel. DeRozan said after Chicago Bulls practice on Monday that “probably about five” more are coming.
Unsurprisingly, DeRozan’s motivation for the series is one of service.
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“I remember being a kid, you look back and you have a favorite player, right? But I remember that I didn’t know how my favorite player sounded when he talked or what he does when I’m not watching him, what his life is like,” DeRozan said. “I remember as a kid always wanting to know what Nick Van Exel did after games. So I just want to show kids who watch us what it’s like to be an NBA player outside of putting an NBA jersey on.”
The series also is trying to shine a spotlight on some of those who comprise DeRozan’s inner circle, those who know him away from the bright lights of NBA success. One of those is his longtime kinesiologist and strength coach, Jason Estrada, who, like DeRozan, grew up in Compton, Calif.
Estrada is older, but DeRozan met him as a rookie with the Toronto Raptors and realized they shared several of the same friends and values.
“After my first or second year in the league, I locked in with him,” DeRozan said. “And it became contagious.”
The first episode details DeRozan’s “working vacation” in Jamaica with Estrada and others from DeRozan’s circle. In it, Estrada details some of his wholistic approach---including mental and nutritional emphasis---and the unconventional workout techniques for DeRozan.
One includes sidestepping in criss-cross fashion slowly up a steep, cement driveway.
“People don’t realize how tough that is. Everything we do is unconventional,” DeRozan said. “That’s who Pat worked out with when he visited me this summer. Pat was about to die out there a few times.
“But Jason has been with me through it all. He became a positive light, not just in my career but in my life. He’s family. He’s probably the most positive person I have in my life.”
DeRozan said Estrada visited Chicago last week to help DeRozan get settled and ready for training camp. On that visit, DeRozan said Estrada continued his years-long push to get him to try a plant-based diet.
“I told him next summer for sure,” DeRozan said.
Episode 2 focuses on DeRozan’s longtime connection and commitment to Los Angeles’ famed Drew League. The offseason pro-am runs long have been legendary, made more so this summer when LeBron James joined DeRozan for a game.
“Listen, that’s how I grew up playing basketball,” DeRozan said. “Just to elevate and be back in that environment, to me it means everything. It’s always great to play in the NBA and put on an NBA jersey. But that type of environment is where it all started and what gave me the passion to love basketball in the first place.”
The series is directed and filmed by Reginald Thomas II, who works as the San Antonio Spurs photographer, and edited by Texas-based videographer Rashad White. They put on camera people like DeRozan’s longtime barber and manager.
“I don’t think a lot of people understand what we go through as athletes,” DeRozan said. “It’s not just us going out there and playing basketball. There’s a foundation we built to help us get to the point we’re at. And a lot of those people get lost in the midst of that. And without them, I wouldn’t be the player or person I am. A lot of times, I love to highlight them and show that side.”
DeRozan said reaction to his series has been positive.
“This is new for me. I never really showed what I’m like outside the court every day. So I think it’s definitely cool,” DeRozan said. “The response I’ve been getting has been definitely cool.”
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