DeMar DeRozan Learned He Was Traded to Spurs While in a Jack in the Box Parking Lot
When the Toronto Raptors decided to trade DeMar DeRozan to the Spurs to acquire Kawhi Leonard this offseason, many were shocked by the move.
DeRozan was among those who were surprised the four-time All-Star had been dealt from the franchise he became the face of over his first nine years in the league.
When the news broke on July 18 about the deal, DeRozan wasn't in a position to get notified, according to a new story from Jonathan Abrams of Bleacher Report. However, when he finally was reached and notified he was heading to San Antonio, it was while he was trying to get something to eat at a Jack in the Box in Los Angeles.
From Abrams:
Then, in a flash, his life in the North was upended. On July 18, the team followed up its firing of coach Dwane Casey by dealing DeRozan, big man Jakob Poeltl and a protected 2019 first-round pick for a discontented Kawhi Leonard along with Danny Green. DeRozan found out about the trade after getting out of a screening of
The Equalizer 2
, featuring Denzel Washington. Upon leaving the movie theater in Los Angeles late into the night, he checked his phone. "[I] was wondering why I was getting missed calls," he says.
He was hungry, so he went to get something to eat at a Jack in the Box. In the parking lot, he got the call telling him he had just been traded to San Antonio. "It just caught me off guard," he says. "I sat in the Jack in the Box parking lot for, like, two hours just trying to process it all, like just trying to process the whole thing, and it just tripped me out honestly, just trying to figure it out, but that's how I found out. Midnight, sitting in the Jack in the Box parking lot for about two hours till I went home."
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Finding out you're getting traded from the team you spent your whole career with is hard enough. Getting the news after having a relaxing time at the movies and while you were trying to get some food in your stomach sounds especially difficult.
Through 11 games with the Spurs, DeRozan appears to be comfortable with his new team on the court. He is averaging 25.2 points on a career-best 50.2% shooting from the field. His 6.8 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game so far would be career-highs as well.
San Antonio is 7-4 this season and will play the Kings Monday.