DeMar DeRozan’s daughter, Diar, took the basketball world by storm in Chicago’s victory over the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday.
Diar traveled to the game to watch her dad play in their old stomping grounds of Toronto and made her presence known as she let out some vicious screams every time the Raptors hit the free throw line.
Her impact? The Raptors shot 18-of-36 from the free throw line in a four-point loss.
But, her viral moment, as her father called it, came with backlash online, as Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes reported that Diar was escorted out of Scotiabank Arena following Chicago’s win due to online threats being made.
DeMar DeRozan’s daughter, Diar, was escorted out of Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday by Bulls’ security and led to team bus with her father after NBA notified team of severe online threats directed at the nine-year-old, sources tell @NBAonTNT, @BleacherReport.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) April 14, 2023
“I was with her. I guarantee you nothing would ever happen when I’m with my daughter,” DeRozan said following Chicago’s loss on Friday. “It’s just idiotic people at the end of the day. Obviously, it’s frustrating when you hear any type of threats. You don’t try to take anything lightly. My thing is my daughter don’t know nothing about it. She just know the good side of we won the game. As long as she’s happy with that, I’m not worried about nothing else.”
DeRozan, who has been in the spotlight of the NBA for 14 years now, knows how ‘crazy’ the social media world can come after you.
“It’s crazy. It’s just the world that we live in. No matter how good something could be, you still got just miserable people out there that don’t have a life, honestly. It’s sad,” DeRozan said. “We see it every single day. More than anything, all I care about is my daughter enjoying her moment, her time. Keep that within our circle. I don’t get her caught up in all the negative stuff that comes on the outside. That’s just me being a protector as a father.”
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