Remember the last time Drake started beef with a Compton native?
Apparently the rap star hasn’t learned his lesson.
On a night when the Toronto Raptors honored Vince Carter by retiring his #15 jersey in the rafters forever, Drake made it clear whose jersey he never wants to see up there.
Appearing on the broadcast in the fourth quarter of the Raptors’ overtime victory over the Sacramento Kings, Drake didn’t mince his words when talking about former Raptors star, DeMar DeRozan.
“If you ever put up a DeRozan banner, I’ll go up there and pull it down myself,” Drake said.
He also called referred to DeRozan as a ‘goof’ in another conversation.
“Unfortunately, we are playing this goof tonight,” Drake said. “But it is what it is.”
DeRozan was drafted by Toronto out of USC with the ninth overall pick in the 2009 draft. He played there for first nine seasons and is the franchise’s all-time leading scorer.
DeRozan’s Raptors had consistent success, but were never quite able to get over the hump.
Eventually, DeRozan was traded for Kawhi Leonard in 2018, that led to the franchise’s first and only NBA championship.
When DeRozan was asked about Drake’s comment after the game, he didn’t seem too phased.
“He gonna have a long way to climb to take it down, so tell him good luck,” DeRozan said.
After DeRozan missed a game-tying three at the end of overtime, the broadcast caught Drake, who was standing courtside, mouth/slighty whisper a profanity-laced jab in the direction of DeRozan.
“F*** outta here, p***y.”
Clearly there is no love lost between the two.
And it can probably be traced back to DeRozan making an appearance in Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ music video.
The two rappers engaged in one of the most notable rap beefs in recent memory over the summer, exchanging verbal blow after verbal blow.
In the end, it was clear that Lamar came out on top, especially after releasing his hit diss track, ‘Not Like Us.’
DeRozan played a role in that production, first in the lyrics with Lamar saying: “I’m glad DeRoz’ came home, y’all didn’t deserve him neither.”
Then appearing in the music video, and lastly, as the cherry on top, DeRozan was on stage at Lamar’s ‘Pop Out’ concert in June, alongside Russell Westbrook.
DeRozan and Lamar, both Compton natives, have a close relationship, which clearly soured Drake on his bond with the former Raptor.
Maybe Drake will get over it, maybe he won’t.
But there is a more than good chance that DeRozan’s jersey gets hung up next to Carter’s in Scotiabank Arena.
If that’s the case, then Drake is going to have a long climb up there if he wants to take it down.
