The Chicago Bulls might have lost to the Golden State Warriors recently, but have been brilliant so far in the season. With their 8-4 record in the Eastern Conference, they’re the underdogs standing at the third seed already. And now that they will be facing the Los Angeles Clippers next, it’s important to understand where at least one of their players, DeMar DeRozan, draws his resilience from.

In his recent interview, DeRozan dove deep into what he learned from the city of Compton where he grew up in. Turns out, it was not rainbows and unicorns at all times. He has had his fair share of struggles that he got past to get to where he is right now in the league.

DeMar DeRozan lost his best friend at an early age

Playing in Los Angeles brings back a lot of old memories for the Chicago Bulls forward. Thirteen years into the league, the blessed athlete still gets to play in front of family and friends. What more could he ask for? But when he was asked what growing up in Compton taught him, he had a lot to say.

“Taught me resilience. It taught me how to be a man… it taught me hardship. It gave me imagination. My whole foundation? Compton taught me that. I wear it like a badge of honor. I wouldn’t be the person I am today if it wasn’t for the good and the bad that I learned growing up in Compton,” he explained.

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The 32-YO also expressed how thankful he was to always have elders around him during all those pitfalls in life. It helped him avoid a lot of bad decisions he would have otherwise made in his life.

However, there are still negative things that will forever remain embedded in his hand. As DeRozan revealed, “At a young age, I lost one of my best friends to gang violence. I lost a lot of people before I even graduated high school.”

It obviously felt unreal and unfair to him, how somebody could be present one day, and absent the next. At the time, he might not have realized, but it was definitely a big hurdle to get past in his life.

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Family support, love for Compton, and the local youth center named after him

This interview almost touched upon all that one would want to know about the Bulls star. And of course, he had to talk about how much his family was vital for him throughout his journey in the NBA, especially his dad. “My Dad was instrumental in everything in my life. Just being a great father figure, always being there and being supportive,” he said.

Moreover, he also did not fail to mention how much Compton is looked down. And it’s this negativity that the people of the city use to motivate themselves to do better and prove others wrong. In fact, DeMar takes pride that the community is very close-knitted and everyone has each other’s back.

Interestingly, the most unreal moment in the guard-forward’s life has been to see a gym named after him in Lueders Park. As DeMar merrily expressed, “It’s incredible. Lueders Park is one of the parts of Compton that my Dad always took me to. I remember being terrible at basketball then. I also almost drowned at that park when I was like 9 years old. A lifeguard had to save me. Now to see a gym named after me is definitely incredible.”

Say what you will, there is something very appealing about a small city. The dedication that people have here is a rare sight in bigger cities. And getting to know such personal details about DeRozan’s life has only increased our respect of the NBA star. He isn’t just a great NBA player, but also a survivor.

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