NBA Q&A: DeMar DeRozan

Courtesy of XXL

XXL: How do you feel about Drake being named Global Ambassador for The Raptors?

DeMar DeRozan: 

Me personally, I definitely think it’s a dope situation with Drake being one of the best in the game, arguably, at what he does. Especially in Toronto and the country of Canada, there’s no better person you can put in the position.

What were your initial thoughts?

I was happy for him. He’s a good friend of mine, and I thought it was dope. You can tell by his music that he’s passionate about the city of Toronto. Just having a team that he can back, and with me being a part of the team, I think it’s a dope situation for him. I’ve known him since I first [got] here, about four, five years now.

When you got the word, how did y’all celebrate?

I saw him that morning, and I talked to him for a minute. He was in our arena doing the press conference, and I talked to him just to congratulate him. He had a couple of ideas planned. It was a cool little thing.

What do you think he’ll bring to the table?

He definitely is an intelligent person. He knows sports, he knows how to market, everything. I think he’s going to bring that to the table and really try to push us, get us further out there and known. Since we are the only team that plays in Canada, there’s a lot of opportunity for us that he brings to the table.

Do you listen to Drake?

Oh yeah, most definitely. Since he’s been out he’s been one of my favorite artists in the game. [Nothing Was The Same] was a great album, one of the albums that definitely lean on you for a long time. He’s just good music at the end of the day. “Worst Behaviour” is my favorite track.

What do you guys listen to in the locker room?

Jay Z, Kendrick Lamar, Drake and Kanye.

Where do you see the Raptors in the future?

We just are trying to take this next step. You can start with us; we’re the players out the gate. It’s a lot of us. Since I’ve been here, about five years, there is only one other player left that was here five years ago. With the new group of guys coming in—Kyle Lowery, Rudy Gay—we got a lot of big-name players. All we’ve got to do is handle our business on the court and everything else will fall in line. You see we have the All-Star Game here. There are just so many more opportunities coming up here that can make the image bigger. A lot of great new steps. Management for the team and the whole company are definitely taking that next step and getting bigger. We’re just trying to do whatever we can to be that marquee team in the league.