DeMar DeRozan is proud of the official launching of his new mental health digital series: "Honored to be able to do that"
On Wednesday, Chicago Bulls star DeMar DeRozan officially launched his new digital series entitled “Dinners With DeMar.” The project is focused on conversations with players and athletes, which aims to break the stigma around mental health.
The first episode of the series has been officially uploaded to Deebo's YouTube account, in which Golden State Warriors star and his good friend Draymond Green served as his special guest. The two discussed mental health and the difficulties that they encountered dealing with both public and personal pressures.
A tremendous feat for promoting mental health advocacy
During the Bulls' Wednesday team practice, Deebo expressed happiness about how he was able to open his new mental health-related initiative successfully and premier it recently in front of student-athletes on the University of Southern California campus.
“I think we all need that one spark to bring out a little bit more, shed light and help others,” DeRozan said.
“I was nervous doing it, stepping out of my comfort zone, showing another side of me, especially having to watch something in a room full of people. It’s something new for me but I was honored to be able to do that.”
More than basketball
The entire Bulls team is meanwhile fully supportive of this newfound off-court endeavors by Deebo.
“It takes a lot of strength for people to do that,” Nikola Vucevic said of Deebo. “It’s really awesome and for him to do it at USC, show it in front of student athletes there, especially nowadays I think it’s even more difficult for young athletes who go through it, with all the social media and all the extra pressure that comes with that.”
For head coach Billy Donovan, DeRozan's will to stand up and speak about his struggles displays courage and inspiration.
“People on the outside looking in would think he’s got it all together, everything’s easy and he’s just persevered and battled through everything and things just came his way, but I think for him to talk about his own personal struggle of what he’s had to deal with I think gives people a lot of inspiration and hope,” Donovan said.
