DeMar DeRozan Calls Out NBA Players for Checking Social Media Mentions at Halftime
The 2025-26 season will be DeMar DeRozan's 17th season in the NBA since he entered the league in the 2009 draft, and he didn't hold back when asked what is one of the biggest differences between now and when he first started playing.
"Motherf--kas always getting on their phone worried about what other people saying," he said during an appearance on 7PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony, a Wave Original, (27:30 mark). "I've seen a motherf--ka put his name in the Twitter search to see what other people were saying at halftime…That was never a thought when we was playing. There was no social media, none of that.
"…It's that part of the game that sucks the energy out of you because everybody is so worried about everything else now instead of what it was built on, your game, competing, winning, giving everything you got. Everybody is so caught up in all the s--t that don't matter. What I'm wearing, motherf--kas in the mirror fixing all that, exfoliating before the game…Everything used to be built on wanting to compete the shit you do on the court, now it's so much everything you do off the court that seems much more important."
There is clearly something of a generation gap with DeRozan, who will turn 36 years old next month, and some of the younger players in the NBA, but he appeared exasperated by what he sees as a lack of focus on what matters in certain situations.
And his veteran advice is well worth listening to for younger players, as the USC product is a six-time All-Star and three-time All-NBA selection who is still pouring in the points at this stage of his career.
DeRozan averaged 22.2 points per game in 2024-25, which marked his 12th consecutive season of averaging better than 20 points a night.
There are plenty of veterans on the Sacramento Kings heading into the 2025-26 campaign, including Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine and Dennis Schröder, so perhaps DeRozan won't have to worry as much about his teammates focusing on social media at halftime as he would on other teams.
But he clearly won't be afraid to call them out if they do.
