The Sacramento Kings faced the Toronto Raptors on the day Vince Carter’s jersey was retired, and Canadian rapper Drake was in attendance. That means that Drake and DeMar DeRozan were in the same building, and the two may not be on the best of terms after the rap beef that occurred with Kendrick Lamar earlier this year.
During the game, Drake was on the Raptors’ broadcast when he was asked about a potential DeRozan banner being put in the stadium.
“If you ever put a DeRozan banner up I’ll go up there and pull it down myself,” Drake said.
After the game, DeRozan was told about Drake’s comments, and he responded, “He’s going to have a long way to climb to take it down, so tell him ‘Good luck.’”
"He's going to have a long way to climb to take it down."
DeMar DeRozan is unfazed by Drake stating he would pull down the banner if the Raptors retire the forward's No. 10 jersey pic.twitter.com/9mWdYKAKVU
— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) November 3, 2024
This feud goes back to when DeRozan was on stage for Lamar’s Pop Out concert where he performed his Drake diss, Not Like Us. To add on, DeRozan was in the music video as well. Drake and DeRozan seemed to have been friends, especially when DeRozan used to play for the Raptors.
DeRozan DeRozan speaks about Not Like Us cameo
During the summer, DeMar DeRozan did an interview speaking about the Drake and Kendrick Lamar rap beef, and being a part of the music video.
“It was fun to be a part of (‘Not Like Us’),” DeRozan said. “For that moment, it was so much bigger than what people look at it as a beef between (Lamar) and Drake. It brought our whole city together in a different type of light where there wasn’t no issues, no violence. Everybody was coming together in a peaceful manner and that was the beauty out of those moments.
“Drake’s still my man, still my man, none of it changed. It’s so easy to get overlooked and look at it for what it looks like, but at the end of the day it’s music, entertainment. Two of the biggest rappers in the world went at it from a competitive standpoint and they battled it out. That’s what you want to see as a fan: Kobe (Bryant) playing (Michael) Jordan 1-on-1 and see who wins, see the trash talking, and whoever wins out of that, you’re still going to have the debate, so that’s all that is.”