Team ambassador a no-show as DeMar DeRozan’s daughter goes viral for heckling Toronto players
![Drake attends a preseason NBA game between the Raptors and Rockets at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Oct. 11, 2021.](https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/torontosun/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-1235829116-e1638471869582.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=288&h=216&sig=T3XAA7k1BfpquKjj-ljyow)
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For close to a decade, rapper Drake has been the global ambassador for the Toronto Raptors and a fixture in his courtside seats at many of the team’s home games inside Scotiabank Arena.
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But in a crucial, must-win game for the Raps, the Toronto native and self-proclaimed “6 God” was a no-show, with former Bulls and Raptors forward Charles Oakley sitting in his courtside seat as the team fell 109-105 to Chicago in a single elimination play-in game.
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Raptors fans were quick to notice his absence on social media with many calling into question the One Dance hitmaker’s reputation for being a bandwagon fan.
“You know the Raptors fell off when Drake isn’t at a must-win game,” one fan tweeted, with another adding, “You know you trash when Toronto’s own @Drake don’t show up.”
“Drake not at the Raptors game — he must know they’re ass,” a third person swiped.
ESPN’s SportsCenter shared a meme of the music star staring at his phone imagining his reaction to the team’s season-ending loss.
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Others noted that instead of showing up for the crucial match, the Certified Lover Boy (again, self-proclaimed) was at Toronto’s HISTORY club opening up for his mentor Lil Wayne.
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In the past, despite declaring to be a “Raptors fan to the death,” Toronto’s hometown hero has been accused of being a fair-weather fan, pointing to his tattoo tributes to rival players Steph Curry and Kevin Durant and close friendship with LeBron James as evidence he’s a team jumper.
During Toronto’s 2019 championship run, comedian Bill Burr ripped into Drake’s courtside antics calling him “a super bandwagon fan.”
“I watched a little bit of the NBA Finals and the fact that they’re calling Drake a superfan, it’s just like, I know it’s a business, I know it’s about money, but that guy is the furthest thing from a superfan,” Burr said (per Complex). “A superfan is there through thick and thin. Where the f— has this guy been?”
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With Drake a no-show, former Raptor DeMar DeRozan‘s nine-year-old daughter, Diar, emerged as the night’s viral sensation.
Every time the Raptors took a trip to the free-throw line, Diar’s screams could be heard ringing throughout the arena and television sets at home. And her antics clearly played a role in the team’s loss — Toronto went 18-of-36 in free throws.
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Down three points with a chance to tie the game with 12 seconds left on the clock, All Star power forward Pascal Siakam missed two of his three free throws as Diar could be heard screaming relentlessly in the background.
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After notching 23 points and seven rebounds, DeRozan credited his daughter with helping the Bulls emerge victorious.
“She went viral,” he told reporters in a post-game press conference. “I haven’t let it soak in. I kept hearing something and there was a free throw and somebody missed and I looked back and: ‘Damn, that’s my daughter screaming?’”
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DeRozan said Diar asked her father if she could skip a day of school to come back to the city she spent some of her early life growing up in.
“My daughter called me the other day when she was getting out of school and she just said: ‘Dad, can I come to the Toronto game?’” DeRozan said.
![DeMar DeRozan meets with Fred VanVleet after defeating the Toronto Raptors during the 2023 Play-In Tournament at the Scotiabank Arena on April 12, 2023.](https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/torontosun/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/1251763581-scaled.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=288&sig=QSUH5vBklj7r_YoXlHQ_Vw)
“I remember her going to all the Toronto games when she was a kid, and I almost said no because she’s in school back home. But she kept asking. She was just adamant about coming to support and I said: ‘All right, you can miss one day of school and come to a game.’ I’m glad I did. I owe her some money for sure.”
The Bulls will now go on to play the Miami Heat Friday night where DeRozan will face another former Toronto teammate Kyle Lowry.
But his daughter won’t be screaming on the sidelines for that play-in tilt in South Beach.
“She’s got to go back to school,” DeRozan said.
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