In this episode of the Draymond Green Show, host Draymond Green interviews NBA veteran DeMar DeRozan about the turbulent period surrounding his 2021 free agency. DeRozan reflects on three years in San Antonio, describing it as a "question mark" phase where he grappled with doubts about his game, the league’s narrative that his mid‑range style was obsolete, and a pervasive sense of being undervalued. The uncertainty of free agency plunged him into a depressive mindset—he recounts isolating himself for days, obsessively watching the market, and fearing he might have to settle for a minimum contract. When the Chicago Bulls opportunity materialized, DeRozan frames it as both relief and a catalyst for vengeance against the doubters, vowing to prove his worth through relentless work ethic. He discusses his refusal to join the Warriors despite speculation, emphasizing personal pride and a desire to avoid being labeled a "minimum‑salary" player. Throughout, DeRozan shares his coping philosophy: turning negative experiences into purposeful motivation, staying silent about his struggles to avoid pity, and using each role—son, father, teammate—to make sense of adversity. The conversation is interspersed with sponsor reads and repeated affirmations of agreement, underscoring a candid, conversational tone.
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What's up everybody? It's Draymond Green. Make sure you subscribe to the Volumes YouTube channel below so you don't miss any more of this great content going forward. After year 12, lot of doubt, lot of, oh man, he don't shoot the 3, the mid-range is a losing shot, blah, blah, blah. Now in saying that, everybody say the mid-range is a losing shot and then that's the only shot you shoot. You see taken in the playoffs. But they say all regular season is a losing shot. But a lot of doubt, which I don't understand for someone that's accomplished so much, that's proven so much over and over and over again. But you faced a ton of doubt. Free agency to me didn't go for you how I think it should have went.
Right, right.
The interest around the league for a superstar on the market it wasn't what it should have been. I feel like you channeled that and you go into Chicago your first year, second team All-NBA, All-Star again. What was last year like for you reestablishing DeMar DeRozan?
See, this is a dope thing that, you know, people out there don't know. We've had these conversations. We know it's been plenty of times you call me, throughout the season was like, hell yeah, fuck yeah. You know what I mean?
Absolutely.
It was never surprising to you. So it's this obviously my first time speaking up on a topic, which is, I think it'd be very insightful. I think, you know, for me, my 3 years in San Antonio was such a, you know, it was such a question mark for me of trying to figure out the next phase of myself, you know, being in a place for so long, obviously Toronto, and feeling like, you know, the franchise, all of a sudden you get knocked down back to humble beginnings and have to figure yourself out as a player. You know, doubts come in, questions come in, especially when all you see is a certain type of narrative that follow you. Can't do this, this, this, this, this, this, on down the line, you know? And it takes a toll on you, you know? Because, you know, me, I'm not the most outspoken person to go back and forth on debating myself with somebody else. So it put me in a mindset of, you know, how can I figure this thing out within me and change the narrative in time? You know, it used to be moments where overnight I wish I could do something right now to change this whole narrative. But I told myself my whole time in San Antonio, whenever I get my next opportunity, I'ma make it make sense why I was in this position for 3 years being in San Antonio. And that summer come up going into free agency, like you said, it didn't go as planned. You know, it was, that kind of brought so much doubt in for me and put me in a dark place because I started to question like, you know, all right, where am I going now? What player? Am I going to be, you know what I mean? Like so many of these questions start to creep in and you know, a lot of people don't, didn't realize, you know, I know big names always kind of sign in the first day or two. You know, I think I would, a couple days into free agency was still such a question mark, you know, was I going to go somewhere for the one-year deal? Was this, was I going to take the minimum? This, this, the narrative of it was, was such a, it put me in a fucked up place, honestly. Like, and I remember through that whole time, it was 3, 4 days in a row. I didn't leave out the room. I didn't see the sunset. I didn't see the sun come up. I sat in the room and just being like, it put, I was depressed. It put me in a depressed mindset because I didn't know what the fuck was going to happen. You know, was I going to come to LA? That didn't, that fell through. That didn't happen. Was this, was this, you seeing, You seeing guys sign other places. Everybody hitting me like, "Man, what you gonna do? What you gonna do?" And there was certain moments where I had no fucking clue what I was gonna do. You know? And when the Chicago thing came around and I made that happen, it was such a relief. But at the same time, it angered me and put me in a very frustrating mental of like, "Fuck this." I'm about to demolish anything you gotta say about me. I'm not gonna say nothing. I'm gonna just work my ass off and I'm gonna prove, not just for myself, for anybody who feel like they get counted out, they get doubted or get told that they can't do something. My whole career has kind of been based off that, but I never let it, you know, bring me completely down. It knocked me down, but I got back up. And for me, that moment of going to Chicago, I just told myself, this is a new opportunity. I'm gonna make the most out of it in every type of, every way, you know? And I remember, shit, every time I did something, you'll call me. Every time it was like, keep going, keep going. You know what I mean? It was those conversations of like, you know, my peers see it and they understand it. You know what I mean? I remember when I signed with Chicago, it was the worst free agent signing. It was like, that's what you feel about me?
Absolutely.
So it was like, it was a vengeance out, not just for myself, but just for anybody that get put in that situation because it's so easy to fall victim to the bullshit that they put on you.
Absolutely.
That is so false. You know, you could lose confidence. You could doubt yourself. You could feel like, maybe they right. When it's like, nah, I don't care how much older I'm getting. It's all about how much you put in, how much you love, and how much you willing to sacrifice to keep getting better. And that was my whole approach, my mentality going into last season.
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I'm not coming to play with y'all.
I'm like, bruh, but you come to the Warriors, We can win a championship if you come to the Warriors. He didn't come.
He did say that.
We still won a championship, but he didn't come. However, I had to throw that one out there. Like you said, the thing that really pissed me off most, and aside from our relationship, that made me call every day, or every time you did something was like, and you just hit on it. Are you going to take a minimum? People were like, are you going to take a minimum?
Yeah.
I mean, even when I called talking about you should come to the Warriors, I wasn't talking about no minimum. A minimum? That's baffling to me. For someone who's still athletic, still scored a basketball, Don't get in no trouble. True professional in a bucket. A minimum. The disrespect for me just didn't sit well. How were you able to channel all of that into being DeMar DeRozan?
Man, you know, I'd be lying to you to tell you that I didn't have days where, You know, it just got extremely heavy, you know, and you kind of just shut down and take a moment to yourself to kind of regroup. But I always just told myself, my favorite saying to myself was always, make something bad that happened make sense down the line. Whatever that may be. That's all I used to tell myself. Let me make this negative make sense down the line. And I always told myself whenever I got down, whenever I felt a certain type of way, so, Everything I, whether if it was being a, trying to be a better son, be a better father, be a better friend, be a better basketball player. It was always trying to find different elements of just trying to be better to make sense of the negative that I'm going through, you know? And I just stuck to it, bro. I ain't gonna lie. I just stuck to it. I had days here and there, but I just stuck to it. And every time I got that opportunity, and I trust everything I put into it. And I knew nobody suffered like I did. You know what I mean?
Absolutely.
Because one, I never screamed out. I never lashed out. You know, I never wanted nobody to feel sorry for me. I never threw a pity party, nothing. You know what I mean?
Absolutely. Nothing.
So it was always me telling myself, no one suffered like I suffered. So everything else is gonna be easy.
100%.
That's just how I took the approach. You know what I mean? And that goes for anybody that feel like they going through something. You not alone, but it's always a way you could channel that emotion, that negative feeling that you may carry into something positive, as long as you make it make sense. You know what I mean? And that was just my mental, that was just my approach. And to this day, I still take the same approach.
