NEW ORLEANS—For all DeMar DeRozan has accomplished — a 2016 Olympic gold medallist, 2014 World Cup champion, Eastern Conference finalist last spring, and now his third appearance in an NBA all-star game — he still doesn’t quite get it.
At some point here this weekend, he figures he’ll looking around, see stars of another realm watching him do his stuff, and be somewhat amazed.
“For me, it’s always great when you … look in the crowd and you see all the celebrities you watch, the actors, whatever it may be,” the Raptors veteran said. “In a sense, they’re coming here to watch you play, when we’re so used to watching them entertain and do what they do.
“Just to look over there and you might see an actor, a singer or whatever, and you joke with them and they know you. For me, I look at it like ‘man, how do they know me?’ For me, that’s the cool part of all-star weekend.”
DeRozan and his best buddy, Kyle Lowry, are each appearing in their third all-star games here this weekend: the former voted in by fans as a starter, the latter added by conference coaches.
They are among the galaxy of stars here and no matter how bright they shine, they have moments when then are impressed by the spectators as much as they are proud of their inclusion.
“It’s more about the interaction with the celebrities, the comedians, the other legends you see throughout the season,” Lowry said. “All-star is more the chance to hang out with celebrities, and you could get to see the guys you know, and some people from your hometown who are famous that you don’t get to see.”
But it should come as no surprise to Raptors fans that one of the best parts of the weekend for the teammates is having their families — especially their kids — with them.
“I think now that my daughter is older, I kind of want her to experience it,” DeRozan said. “My youngest one is too young to know what’s going on, but more so just having fun with her — be like Riley Curry or something.”
Lowry will be more busy — he was a coach at Friday night’s celebrity game, and will take part in Saturday’s three-point shooting contest — but he’s also old enough to know there are times to relax.
“That is what I learned from the first one: Now it’s more about enjoying the day and not running yourself ragged,” he said. “You don’t need to do everything. You can just sit and look back and relax, and go to dinner and enjoy your family — more family-time things instead of doing individual stuff.”
There will be a different feel to this all-star weekend because, in some ways, it signals a changing of the NBA guard.
Kobe Bryant (18 all-star games), Kevin Garnett (14), Tim Duncan (15), Dwyane Wade (11), Chris Bosh (nine) . . . they’re all gone, either retired or not selected. Carmelo Anthony will appear in his 10th game, but only after he was named as an injury replacement for Cleveland’s Kevin Love.
Four players — Giannis Antetokounmpo of Milwaukee, Charlotte’s Kemba Walker, Utah’s Gordon Hayward and DeAndre Jordan of the Los Angeles Clippers — will be making their all-star debuts. Isaiah Thomas of Boston, San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard and Draymond Green of Golden State are in their second games.
The most experienced is Cleveland’s LeBron James, who’ll play in his 13th, but there will be a “new” feeling to it.
“It’s crazy. You look around and see all the guys you grew up watching playing in the all-star game that you were excited to see, and I got to be an all-star with a couple of them guys, and now a couple of them guys are not out there,” DeRozan said. “It just shows you time, how slowly change comes, it definitely plays on you. That will definitely give it a different feel.”
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