DeMar DeRozan's post for daughter Diar sparks speculation of encore appearance at Bulls' play-in game
On Wednesday night, DeMar DeRozan and the Chicago Bulls take on the Atlanta Hawks in the play-in tournament. As he prepares for this matchup, the former All-Star make a call back to last year with a post of his daughter.
DeRozan's daughter Diar stole the show last year with her antics. While sitting courtside cheering on her father, she decided to try and help the Bulls win. Every time the Toronto Raptors were shooting free-throws, she would scream just before the ball left their hands. That proved to be effective, helping Chicago emerge victorious.
As the Bulls and Hawks get ready to face off, DeMar DeRozan made a post on his Instagram story. It was a picture of his daughter from last year with the caption "mood."
The two teams are set to tip off at 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time and will air in front of a national audience on ESPN. The winner of this game faces the loser of Philadelphia 76ers vs Miami Heat to see who will get the eighth seed in the East.
DeMar DeRozan talks about his daughter Diar's antics vs Raptors
After the Chicago Bulls took down the Toronto Raptors in that play-in game, DeMar DeRozan touched on his daughter's antics. He allowed her to miss school to travel and be there that night, a decision he didn't regret.
"I said alright you can miss one day of school and come to a game and I'm glad I did," DeRozan said postgame. "I owe her some money for sure."
While this was all done in good fun, things ended up taking a dark turn that night. Following the win, DeMar DeRozan's daughter had to be escorted out of the arena by security. It was done because the league notified the Bulls that online threats had been made towards the nine-year-old.
As expected, DeRozan didn't take kindly to such things being directed at his young daughter.
"No matter how good something could be," DeRozan said. "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."
Seeing how things unfolded last year, there's no telling if DeRozan will put his child in a similar environment again. Nonetheless, the star forward has to be prepared to help lead the Bulls against Trae Young and the Hawks.
DeRozan, 34, is still a high-level player for the Bulls. He played in 79 games this season and averaged 24.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists. Leading his team to the playoffs will be big for DeRozan, as he has an important summer coming up. This offseason, the Bulls veteran is set to his unrestricted free agency.