Chicago’s secret weapon! DeMar DeRozan’s daughter SCREAMS every time the Raptors step up to the free throw line with Toronto missing 18 during the Bulls’ comeback win
Chicago’s epic comeback against the Toronto Raptors may not have happened if DeMar DeRozan left her daughter Diar back at school.
Instead, DeRozan’s daughter came along to her father’s old stomping grounds at the Scotiabank Center in Toronto. DeMar, now playing for the Bulls, helped his team go on a large comeback to beat the Raptors and advance further in the play-in tournament.
Part of that reason may be how poor Toronto did when shooting from the free throw line – and Diar played a major role in that.
The youngster screamed her heart out every time the Raptors shot a free throw and the results speak for themselves.
Toronto shot a dismal 18-of-36 (50 percent) from the charity stripe – including late in the game when Pascal Siakam missed two of three free throws in the final seconds. The Raptors averaged a 78.4 percent mark from the free throw line this season.
Diar’s performance didn’t go unnoticed – as she was highlighted on the ESPN broadcast and on an alternate broadcast by longtime ESPN NBA reporter and First Take host Stephen A. Smith.
‘Toronto’s shooting [badly] from the free throw line, because she’s screaming every time they shoot,’ Smith pointed out.
After the game, DeMar revealed how close he was to keeping her at home because she had to be in school.
‘You know it’s crazy, my daughter called me the other day when she was getting out of school,’ DeRozan explained. ‘And she said “Dad, can I come to the Toronto game” I remember [her] coming to all the Toronto games when she was a kid.
‘I almost said no because she’s in school back at home. She kept asking, she was adamant about coming and supporting [us].
‘And I said “Alright you can miss one day of school and come to a game” and I’m glad I did. I owe her some money for sure.’
DeMar finished the night with 23 points, seven rebounds, and three assists in the victory.
The Bulls now travel to Miami to take on the Heat in the final play-in tournament game to decide the eight seed, but Diar won’t be joining him.
‘Nah, she gotta go back to school. School [comes] first,’ DeRozan said.
The winner of that Bulls-Heat game will then go on to the playoffs and will face off against the Milwaukee Bucks.