Former Spur DeMar DeRozan joins 20,000 club Friday night in San Antonio

Friday night, former Spurs star DeMar DeRozan crossed the 20,000 point mark during the Spurs match up against the Chicago Bulls.

After hitting the monumental shot, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich immediately called time out. It was a classy move on the part DeMar’s former coach.

If you have to have hit a milestone on the road, great to be in apace where you are loved and respected.

As a result of the time out, the fans were informed of the feat and DeRozan was given applause in the moment.

As DeRozan joins the “20,000” club, it should be noted he is the 50th highest scorer in NBA history and one of 10 active players above 20K.

DeMar has made comments in the past that regarding that during his time in San Antonio he ““felt like I was wiped off the map… I just felt like I was irrelevant.”

DeRozan was uprooted from Toronto where he had dedicated his entire career and sent to San Antonio (along with Jakob Poeltl and the draft pick that became Keldon Johnson) for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green back in 2018.

Leonard and Green won a title with the Raptors the following season.

“That took a toll, especially for something… every single year [with the Raptors], going to the conference finals, semifinals, competing, 50-plus (wins)… and all of a sudden, you don’t exist.”

He made no effort to mask his disappointment at being traded, but made the most of his time in San Antonio. Unfortunately, hindsight 20/20, DeRozan’s arrival not only postponed the inevitable Spurs rebuild, but revealed DeMar was not at the All-Star caliber level of his Toronto years.

“It was like, ‘Damn, what’s this? Hey, I’m here.’ That’s what I felt like. Granted, I had great games. I developed in a lot of great ways as a basketball player. But in the same token, I just felt non-existent, you know, for those years. It wasn’t like we was on TV, we weren’t competing. There was so much to it that just was a struggle.”

The Spurs only made the playoffs one of the three seasons while DeRozan was the centerpiece of the team.

He has since bounced back in Chicago, earning another All-Star trip and garnering MVP chatter last season.

It was a nice moment. Even nicer because the Spurs still won.

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