DeMar DeRozan was just looking for a friendly chat back in 2018 after he had been traded by the Toronto Raptors, but instead only heard laughter on the other end of the line.
The former Raptors all-star said that ex-teammate Rudy Gay was one of the first people that he called after he was sent to San Antonio in the blockbuster trade that brought Kawhi Leonard north. And not only did Gay laugh at DeRozan over the move, he did so twice.
During a sit-down conversation with the 7 PM in Brooklyn podcast, DeRozan revealed what went down that fateful July night.
What did DeRozan say?
DeRozan explained that after he received the news that he had been traded along with Jakob Poeltl and a first-round pick for Leonard, Danny Green and cash, he called a couple of close friends.
“I get traded from Toronto in the middle of the night. I’m sick, I’m hot, I’m walking down the street, I’m sitting in the f****** fast food parking lot,” DeRozan began, describing the night he was traded after playing his first nine years in the NBA in Toronto.
“I called two people. The first person I called to tell was Kyle Lowry,” DeRozan continued. “The second, I called this motherf*****,” he added, pointing to Rudy Gay, who was seated across the set.
DeRozan then went on to reveal what he said to Gay – who played parts of two seasons with the Raptors — and his reaction.
“I said, ‘Yeah bro, these guys just traded me,’” DeRozan said. “He said ‘Haha.’ He’s laughing on the phone. I’m like, ‘What the f***, man?’
“And he was in San Antonio too, right, so I was telling him.”
Gay had been a member of the Spurs at the time, in the midst of a four-season stint with the team. Gay also corrected DeRozan a bit, saying that it was after he was told it was San Antonio where he got traded to was when he laughed again.
“He laughed twice,” DeRozan said. “The second laugh, I hung up on his ass.”
DeRozan also added that despite Gay’s laughter, the two are good friends to this day. “This is my partner, this is my dog, bro,” DeRozan said.
Are DeRozan and Gay still playing?
DeRozan completed his 17th season in the NBA this year as a member of the Sacramento Kings. He has now played 1,264 career regular-season games and has averaged 21.1 points and 4.1 assists per game. In March, he became the oldest player in NBA history to record a 40-point, 10-assist game, scoring 41 and recording 11 assists in a game against the Utah Jazz.
Gay retired after the 2022-23 season after 17 years in the NBA. He averaged 15.8 points and 5.6 rebounds over 1,120 career games while suiting up for five different teams.
