For the past few days, with the release of his book “Above the Noise,” DeMar DeRozan has been doing a series of interviews and appearances on TV sets. He recently appeared on Brian Windhorst’s podcast to talk about the motivations behind writing this book. A book in which DeRozan shows more vulnerability than ever.
Since February 17, 2018 and this tweet in which he announced to the world his depression, DeMar DeRozan has become the face of the NBA concerning the mental health of athletes (and not only). Six years have passed since then, and DeMar continues to shed light on this subject that is both sensitive and complex.
His latest initiative is this book which has just been released: “Above the Noise: My Story of Chasing Calm”.
DeMar DeRozan returns in particular to his very difficult childhood in Compton (near Los Angeles), the impact that his environment had on the management (or rather the repression) of his emotions, and his evolution both as a human being and a basketball player.
“There are a lot of things from childhood that we continue to carry as adults. For me, identifying these emotions was very important to better understand who I am, I wanted to be vulnerable to push people to look in the mirror, and help them understand where certain things come from.”
Applauded for his vulnerability and the impact he has had in advancing the discussion around mental health, DeMar DeRozan has inspired many athletes in recent years. Indeed, many (Kevin Love, Paul George, Michael Phelps, Simone Biles, etc.) have shared their psychological difficulties in turn. The NBA has also pushed its teams to hire psychologists to better support players.
But while he’s still a working NBA star, Deebo doesn’t want to stop there.
“I wanted to express all of that in real time, while I’m still playing in the NBA. Because I’m still going through things, even while I’m writing the book, there’s still things that I’m trying to figure out and where I need to grow. But ultimately, I wanted to be like an open book, to be completely vulnerable, to give myself completely, to give hope to other people to do the same.”
From Toronto to San Antonio to Chicago and now Sacramento, DeMar DeRozan is making sure that the topic of mental health remains relevant in the NBA, but also everywhere else. This only increases the respect that his peers have for him. By opening up like this, DMDR is inspiring others to do the same to free themselves emotionally.
And that may be the greatest accomplishment of DeMar’s career.
“As athletes, we are sometimes seen as superheroes. But we rarely see the Clark Kent side.” – DeMar DeRozan
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Text sources: The Hoop Collective Podcast, The Athletic
