NEW ORLEANS—He may live half the year in a foreign country and count Toronto as his second home, but DeMar DeRozan is fully aware of the politics of his country and what it means in his “other” homeland.
“What’s the perception? If you’re Canadian, you’re happy you’re Canadian,” DeRozan said here of the feeling towards the United States in these turbulent times.
Just because he spends the majority of September to June in Canada doesn’t mean DeRozan isn’t paying attention to what’s going on across the border.
“I’m still American, my whole family lives in America, we play 41 games in America, we’re not blocked off from the United States,” the Raptors guard said. “We don’t have a Trump wall built or nothing. We definitely stay tuned and know exactly what’s going on.”
DeRozan came to Canada from Los Angeles as a quiet teenager in 2009; his awareness of politics and its impact has grown exponentially since then.
“I think it has changed dramatically, just me maturing and, you know, being an adult, being a parent and having to raise kids of my own,” he said. “You definitely see a different dynamic from being a kid and really not understanding what is going on.
“Now it’s just changed . . . with me being older, understanding what is going on and the effects it brings not just now but also in the future. I think it’s just me being more educated too.”
ALL-STAR REUNION? Steve Kerr is not tipping his hand.
The NBA world would love to see Kerr use the four members of his Golden State Warriors — Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green — on the floor at the same time with Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook in Sunday’s game.
Even with relations strained between former teammates Durant and Westbrook, that’s a super team that all-star games are made for.
“I’ve definitely considered it,” Kerr said in an interview with ESPN Radio. “The only thing that you have to do as a coach in the all-star game is to parcel out the minutes. That’s it. You don’t draw up any plays, at least I don’t.
“So you’ve got to figure out the minutes and I have thought about it and I’m not going to share it with you here today.”
It might not go so well since Westbrook brushed off all questions about his former teammate during Friday’s interview session.
“I want everybody to be comfortable and happy,” Kerr said. “This should be an enjoyable time. I don’t want anybody to feel uncomfortable.
“That doesn’t mean I’m going to be out there organizing meetings or anything. I’m just going to try and create a comfortable environment for the players and hope that everyone just relaxes and enjoys themselves, and I’m pretty confident that is what will occur.”
GOLDEN GUYS: At some point over the all-star weekend, the teammates from the United States gold-medal team at the Rio Olympics will come up with something to commemorate the accomplishment.
DeRozan isn’t sure what it’s going to be but it’s been fun figuring it out.
“We have been having this group chat since Rio and it’s been going off ever since we been here about what are we going to do,” he said. “It’s definitely cool to . . . still have that bond with all them guys and just to look at your phone and everyone is shooting jokes at one another about something.
“We don’t know what yet, but we’ll probably do something.”
A DAY LATE: There were only a couple of no-shows as the NBA trotted out its all-stars for media day to kick off the weekend here.
LeBron James was given a pass to take care of a family matter and Carmelo Anthony was excused because he was just added to the Eastern Conference team and had “logistical” issues.
Both were expected to take part in Saturday’s practice.
SUPER G: Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokoumpo, making his first all-star game appearance, was overwhelmed at the reception he got here Friday afternoon
“This is crazy, I haven’t seen this so media in my life,” he said after he was inundated with interview requests from the usual North American press and a healthy contingent from Greece, his homeland.
“But it’s fun, I’m just trying to live the moment.”
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