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Ex-NBA Star Calls Out Drake for DeMar DeRozan Comments

Former LA Clippers star and ex-Raptors guard Lou Williams reacted to the Drake's comments.

Joey Linn

Drake wears headphones to conduct an in-game media interview while watching the Toronto Raptors host the Boston Celtics at Scotiabank Arena.
Drake wears headphones to conduct an in-game media interview while watching the Toronto Raptors host the Boston Celtics at Scotiabank Arena. / Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
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The Toronto Raptors recently honored franchise legend Vince Carter by lifting a No. 15 banner into the rafters at Scotiabank Arena. Carter spent seven seasons with the franchise where he helped define an era of Raptors basketball.

During the game, which was largely a celebration of Carter’s time in Toronto, the Raptors had Drake join the broadcast. Often seen courtside at Raptors games, Drake has been an ambassador for the organization for several years.

While on the broadcast, Drake took a shot at former Raptors star DeMar DeRozan, saying, “If you ever put a DeRozan banner up I’ll go up there and pull it down myself.”

Drake feeling this way about DeRozan is due to the NBA star’s involvement in the rap beef between he Kendrick Lamar. Appearing in Kendrick’s “Not Like Us” music video, DeRozan was also on stage with him during his show at the Kia Forum in Inglewood.

From Los Angeles, DeRozan has a relationship with Kendrick that predates his time in Toronto. 

Given this context, and what the night was supposed to be about, former NBA star Lou Williams called Drake out.

“If I’m gonna speak candidly, I thought that was selfish of Drake,” Williams said on FanDuel’s Run it Back show. “Drake, as well as the country of Canada, the city of Toronto, they know what DeMar DeRozan has contributed to the culture up there, and what he’s contributed to the Toronto Raptors and to that community.”

Williams spent 17 years in the NBA, and one of those with the Raptors. Drake even made a song about Williams, releasing “6 Man” on his “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late” album.

Spending his best years with the LA Clippers, Williams was only in Toronto briefly, but knows what DeRozan means to that city.

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Joey Linn
JOEY LINN

Joey Linn is a credentialed writer covering the NBA for Sports Illustrated's FanNation. Covering the LA Clippers independently in 2018, then for Fansided and 213Hoops from 2019-2021, Joey joined Sports Illustrated's FanNation to cover the Clippers after the 2020-21 season. Graduating from Biola University in 2022 with a Communication Studies degree, Joey served as Biola's play-by-play announcer for their basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams during his time in school. Joey's work on Biola's broadcasts, combined with his excellence in the classroom, earned him the Outstanding Communication Studies Student of the year award in 2022. Joey covers the NBA full-time across multiple platforms, primarily serving as a credentialed Clippers beat writer.

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