‘THAT WAS HOME FOR ME:’ DeMar DeRozan returns to Toronto in must-win game

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It’s always fun for Toronto Raptors fans to welcome back old favourites who used to play for the team.

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Kyle Lowry has returned with a Miami Heat jersey on to standing ovations but the team’s quiet former superstar DeMar DeRozan also gets a lot of love.

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Will that change on Wednesday night when the Chicago Bulls head to Scotiabank Arena to play the Raptors in the do-or-die play-in tournament? Not likely, especially when you consider just how much he loudly and proudly praises not only Toronto but Canada.

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It’s the place he called home for nine years, it’s where he flourished into a four-time All-Star, and he remains the franchise’s all-time leading scorer.

“That was home for me. It was everything for me,” DeRozan told The Athletic. “The way they embraced me, everything. Even if I tried to, it’s nothing I could ever possibly say was wrong with Canada — other than getting double-taxed.”

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It’s going to be a “full-circle moment,” DeRozan calls his return. And while he isn’t ready for the Bulls’ season to end, he admitted that walking into SBA to end Toronto’s season will be strange.

“I’m pretty sure I’ll say a joke about it here and there, just how crazy it’s going to be,” DeRozan said of what he will tell his current teammates.

“The atmosphere is going to feel like it’s an Eastern Conference finals game in a Play-In game, it’s definitely going to be crazy,” DeRozan said, knowing full well just how loud Raptors fans get – inside Scotiabank Arena and those who will be tailgating outside and watching it on the big screen in Maple Leaf Square.

“Driving to the arena, walking through the arena, you’re definitely going to feel it,” he added. “That’s the beauty of that place, those fans. And any competitor would want to be a part of that.”

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It’s been a roller-coaster of a season for the Raptors but they played well against the Bulls and Toronto’s record against Chicago this season is 2-1, with games favouring the home team.

DeRozan also averaged only 14 points in the three-game series, his lowest showing against any team.

“That’s Nick Nurse,” DeRozan said of the Raptors coach’s strategy. “I’m going to deal with it. I know how to deal with it now. But playing against Nick and playing against those guys, they try to do everything in their power to make sure I don’t beat them.”

He added: “I’m aware of it, for sure. For my sake, I definitely have my own theory around it, how I’m going to deal with it.”

But will a win over the Raptors make DeRozan the bad guy in that scenario? No way, he said.

“I would never be a villain in Toronto.”