DeRozan’s Daughter the Subject of Threats, Receives Police Escort

Say what you will about repeated shrieks during free throws as an attempt to alter the outcome of a game, but threats to the safety of a nine-year-old girl? That is a major no-no.

Some Toronto Raptors fans clearly didn’t get that message.

No, the Raptors are not moving on to the NBA Postseason, and sure, that news can be a hard pill to swallow – especially after a fifth place finish in 2022. But taking out frustrations following one’s team’s shortcomings is certainly not the way to go about things.

For background: The Raptors hosted the Chicago Bulls in the first game of the NBA’s Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament on Wednesday. The game was played at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena – a venue that has been good to the Raptors in recent years.

The home fans, however, have been known to show their nasty side, as demonstrated by their reaction at the time of Kevin Durant‘s Achilles injury during Game 5 of the NBA Finals in 2019.

This time, things went a bit further than that of a celebratory cheer or an aggressive hand gesture.

Facing off against old teammate DeMar DeRozan, a number of Raptors struggled at the free throw line, with the team going a collective 14 for 32. Shortly through ESPN’s broadcast, it was discovered that DeRozan’s daughter, Diar, who was sitting courtside, was screaming loudly each time a Raptors player stepped up to make their shot.

“She went viral,” DeRozan laughed at the post-game press conference. “I kept hearing something during the game. When they were doing free throws, somebody missed and I looked back and was like ‘Damn, that’s my daughter screaming.’”

demar derozan’s daughter screamed every time the raptors were at the free throw line

the raptors missed 18 free throws

the bulls won by 4

everybody say hello to your 2023 play-in MVP
pic.twitter.com/jZ9hPdOP0g

— Molly Morrison (@mollyhannahm) April 13, 2023

The broadcast continued to pan back to Diar and her ear-piercing shrieks, while even pulling up a split frame on the live feed upon occasion.

Fans around the younger DeRozan certainly appeared to have had enough of her antics, but the damage had clearly already been done. The Raptors ended up missing 18 total free throws and losing what was supposed to be a very ‘winnable’ game by just four total points.

“She was yelling, I’m trying to figure out who it was,” Raptors’ sophomore forward Scottie Barnes said. “Just heard somebody screaming and I was like, ‘who was that?’ I was like, ‘OK.’ I don’t really know if it had an effect,’. But we went 18-for-36, so it had to have an effect somewhat. She did a great job.”

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As the game concluded, police on scene and the Bulls’ own security team escorted Diar out of the building to the team bus for fear of her personal safety. They were notified of online threats and potential planned attacks due to her ‘role’ in the team’s fateful loss.

“As long as she was there with her father, I wasn’t worried about anything happening,” DeRozan told TNT’s Chris Haynes post-game. “It was just a precautionary measure and I appreciate that.”

“It’s crazy, it’s the world we live in,” DeRozan said. “No matter how good something could be, you still got miserable people that just don’t have a life. Honestly. It’s sad. All I care about is my daughter enjoying her moment.”

The Bulls did end up losing to the Heat in Miami in the second game of the play-in tournament, but did leave their mark on Toronto. Incredibly, DeRozan almost didn’t bring his daughter along, for fear of her getting behind in her studies.

“I almost said ‘No’ because she’s in school back home,” he reflected. “She kept asking, she was just adamant about coming and supporting. And I just 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.”

Despite American Airlines offering to fly her out to Florida for the second game, DeRozen declined that possibility, but that decision may very well have ended his season. Chicago lost that game 102-91 and will watch the NBA Postseason on television, much like that of the Raptors.