Tensions may have finally thawed between DeMar DeRozan and Masai Ujiri.
The Chicago Bulls star DeRozan got ejected in the waning seconds of Friday’s loss to the Raptors in Toronto. DeRozan was unhappy about the Raptors shooting the ball with a big lead on the final possession instead of simply running out the clock. He started jawing at the Toronto bench and their head coach Darko Rajakovic, eventually getting himself tossed from the game.
The Raptors were probably in the right since Friday’s contest was an In-Season Tournament game (meaning that point differential matters very much). But perhaps an even bigger storyline than DeRozan’s ejection was the moment that he shared with the Raptors president Ujiri in the tunnel shortly afterward. Television cameras caught DeRozan warmly embracing Ujiri with a hug.
Check it out.
https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1728262128568770635
That might not seem like much at first glance, but there was a whole lot of subtext to that moment. DeRozan played for the Raptors from 2009-18 and was a beloved star for that franchise. But Ujiri, who took over as Toronto’s president in 2013, was responsible for trading DeRozan to the San Antonio Spurs as part of the 2018 Kawhi Leonard blockbuster (which ended up netting the Raptors their first-ever NBA championship in 2019).
DeRozan felt wronged by the trade and called out Ujiri specifically at the time for his handling of things. Even in more recent years, Ujiri admitted that his relationship with DeRozan still was not great.
But in The Year of Our Lord 2023, it appears that the two men have made notable progress towards rebuilding their bridges. DeRozan, who will be a free agent after the season, was once linked to a reunion with the Raptors, and his relationship with Ujiri may no longer be an obstacle to that much.
