July 15, 2024
A six-time NBA All-Star and two-time Olympic basketball gold medalist tells the story of how his sport helped him find the peace of mind and security he did not know as child. Compton native DeRozan grew up amid constant hardships and danger, and he learned early to ask questions only when he had to and otherwise "mind [my] own business." His escape was playing basketball, which began as pastime. But when he started watching VCR tapes of old NBA games his father swapped with neighbors, DeRozan quickly became obsessed with the seemingly superhuman skills of legends like Julius Erving, Alex English, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. As the author's own athletic talents become more evident, his father encouraged his pursuit. However, the lessons his father taught him on the court were never easy and sometimes drove the author to tears. Yet the focus basketball instilled in him ensured that DeRozan avoided the rampant drugs and gang activity around him. A McDonald's All-American team member in high school, he earned an athletic scholarship to USC, and he was drafted ninth overall by the Toronto Raptors in 2009. DeRozan marveled at the luxuries his new life afforded him and his family, but at the same time, he was forced to realize just how brutal the NBA business world--with its unannounced trades and sudden teammate departures--could be. As he recounts in this surprisingly honest tale, his greatest--and perhaps most humbling lesson--came from being forced to acknowledge his own limits after realizing he suffered from depression. However much he accomplished on the court and off, DeRozan was still a product of an unforgiving environment that forced even the most successful to bear the weight of "growing up in [a] cycle of pain, fear and forging onward," despite countless "scars." Heartfelt and inspiring.
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July 29, 2024
NBA star DeRozan details his struggles with anger and depression in this vulnerable account. DeRozan grew up in 1990s Compton, Calif., where the funerals of slain friends and family members he frequently attended were often disrupted by gunfire. Pushed to excel by his father, DeRozan channeled his rage and sorrow into basketball. After playing one season at USC, he was selected by the Toronto Raptors in the 2009 draft. Despite his on-court achievements, he remained plagued by the “cycle of pain, fear, and forging onward” that he’d been stuck in since childhood. In 2018, he fired off a tweet about depression that received significant media attention, with responses pouring in from other athletes, including fellow NBA player Kevin Love, who credited DeRozan’s openness with helping him open up about his own anxiety and depression (“He saved my life, in a way”). Throughout this chronicle of his ups and downs, including his devastation at being traded by the Raptors in 2018, DeRozan remains a thoughtful and endearing narrator, and his central insight—that the roar of his fans will never make up for unprocessed trauma—resonates. Readers will be inspired. Agent: Rick Broadhead, Rick Broadhead & Assoc.
September 1, 2024
In this well-written memoir coauthored by sportswriter Zarum, six-time NBA all-star DeRozan opens up about his mental health, his rough childhood in Compton, and his time on the court for USC, the Toronto Raptors, the San Antonio Spurts, and the Chicago Bulls. The much-admired athlete also writes about his struggle with depression, and it's easy to understand why he might experience post-traumatic stress disorder. At a tender age, he sees a dead body in the street outside his house. His father locks him in a dark linen closet as punishment. His mother names him DeMar after her brother, Lemar, who was fatally shot at age 20. His role model and mentor, Kobe Bryant, dies tragically. DeRozan marries a fellow USC student who is the mother of his four daughters, but he also fathers a son with someone else. In one crazy incident, a man who had intended to break into Kylie Jenner's house next door accidentally breaks into DeRozan's. One takeaway from this engrossing tale is that many aspects of a full and successful life can be difficult, including navigating fame.
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