NBA ALL-STAR MEDIA DAY

February 18, 2023

DeMar DeRozan

Media Day Press Conference

DEMAR DEROZAN: I've been lucky enough to be as healthy as I have been. Trying to take care of my body, eat the right things, and do all the smart things I might not want to do.

Sometimes you have to play through a lot of stuff that's uncomfortable, and I think more so I've managed that more than anything throughout my career, being able to play through a lot of things and not let it affect my game.

So all those factors, kind of putting them all in one.

Q. How do you learn how to do that?

DEMAR DEROZAN: Man, just being resilient. As I got older, I remember when I was in high school, I watched a Navy SEAL video about the only way you can pass is you have to pass all these courses, and if you quit, you got to go ring the bell. And somebody told me: Never be the person to go ring the bell.

That's always been my mentality.

Q. What city needs an NBA team that doesn't have one?

DEMAR DEROZAN: Vegas.

Q. What would you name the team?

DEMAR DEROZAN: Las Vegas Strips. I don't know. (Laughing.)

Q. What's your all-time Dunk Contest? Who would you want to see in it?

DEMAR DEROZAN: All four? Like four? Zach LaVine, Ja Morant, Zion. I need one more. One more? No, one more. Can I put an old-school player?

Q. Yeah, of course.

DEMAR DEROZAN: Vince Carter.

Q. Do you remember a mixed tape when you were coming up?

DEMAR DEROZAN: Yeah, what's crazy, I think the high school mixed tape era started when I was in high school. One of my high school mixed tapes was one of the first big ones to go viral, and I had to say my high school -- my junior year in high school was probably my favorite of all time. That's when it kind of really started kicking off. Everybody started being on YouTube and everything.

Q. How do you think mixed tapes have changed the game of basketball?

DEMAR DEROZAN: It's everything. You have ultimate -- you have ultimate SportsCenter at the palm of your hand when it comes to anything sports-wise. Whether it's somebody outside playing basketball, high school, middle school, you name it. It's not just the NBA.

You got so many highlight reels that could come out of anywhere.

Q. (No microphone.)

DEMAR DEROZAN: It's dangerous. It's dangerous. As a fan, it's exciting. Something I'm looking forward to just watching as a fan, but being a part of it, you know, that gets your competitor -- your juices kind of going, you know, and I'm looking forward to it.

Q. (On the busy nature of All-Star.)

DEMAR DEROZAN: I don't mind. It's always great just being out here with these guys, honestly. I look forward to just being able to compete. You know, we go against all these guys all season, so just to kind of detach and play with these guys is definitely an honor.

Q. (On LeBron James.)

DEMAR DEROZAN: I mean, I don't think people understand how smart he really is. I think they know, but it's the difference when you are out there and you see him picking apart and reading and understanding the game from a different level.

You know, that's one thing about him that stands out even more being a competitor going against him.

Q. How important is the IQ? The skill is what it is.

DEMAR DEROZAN: It's everything. You know, you're not going to be able to understand how to score those many points if you don't understand how to be a great basketball player, and I think for him that's one thing he has mastered. Not everybody gets the opportunity to even master that.