DeMar DeRozan had no idea that his daughter would become a polarizing figure in the eyes of some NBA fans. After terrorizing Toronto Raptors players at the free throw line on Wednesday in the Scotiabank arena with her well-timed piercing screams, online threats followed.
The security team at Scotiabank Arena escorted Diar out of the stadium when the league caught wind of the online threats. Diar was taken to her Dad, who weighed in on the absurdity of the online negativity.
Stunting Like My Daddy
“What’s crazy is, it’s just the world that we live in,” DeRozan said during the postgame press conference after the Bulls’ loss to the Heat on Friday. “No matter how good something could go, something could be, you’ve still got miserable people out there that just don’t have a life, honestly. It’s sad.
“But more than anything, all I care about is my daughter enjoying her moment, her time. Keep that within our circle,” DeRozan continued. “I don’t let her get caught up in all that negative stuff that comes on the outside. That’s just me being a protector as a father and me knowing what it’s like on the other end, being famous and everything. It’s just sad and miserable that some people sit up and use their fingers to make any type of idle threats to children.”
Diar’s presence at the game in Canada resulted from her persistence to support her father. The 9-year-old persuaded DeRozan to allow her to attend the game in Toronto, and she wasted no time letting the world know her contribution with a shrill scream every time a Raptors player was at the free throw line. The distraction did the trick, as the Raptors missed 18 of 36 free throws, helping the Bulls come back to beat them. Entering the game, the Raptors shot over 78 percent from the free throw line.
Soon the broadcast caught the child’s heckling, and it quickly became a narrative of the game with the requisite partial blame for the Raptors’ poor free throw shooting. By the second half of the game, Diar was viral, and her constant vocal distraction was in lockstep with the missed free throws that began to add up. Unfortunately, the internet responded as online threats started rolling in.
Protect Her At All Costs
After the NBA notified Chicago of the “severe online threats” directed at the Chicago Bulls star’s daughter, DeMar and Diar were escorted out of Scotiabank Arena and guided to the Bulls bus by team security as a “precautionary measure” for her safety per TNT’s Chris Haynes.
“She left with me,” DeMar said. “I was with her. As long as she was there with her father, I wasn’t worried about anything happening! It was just a precautionary measure and I appreciate that. I guarantee you nothing will ever happen when I’m with my daughter.”
Diar didn’t make another courtside appearance on Friday against Miami because she had to attend school. The Bulls lost the crucial play-in tournament game, but Diar is the newest child star of the NBA.
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