The Chicago Bulls had a valuable performer at the NBA Play-In Tournament against the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night. The Bulls beat the Raptors 109-105 and some of the credit goes to a special person that didn’t even play a hand.
Diar DeRozan, the daughter of Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan, let out high-pitched screams every time the Raptors went to the free-throw line. The wail of the 9-year-old echoed throughout the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto and seemed to work wonders as it actually caused the Raptors to subsequently miss 18 of their 36 free throws in a four-point loss.
DeMar’s daughter is screaming whenever the Raptors take free throws 😂 pic.twitter.com/HxmMz3BYgq
— ESPN (@espn) April 13, 2023
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The piercing sound made Diar go viral on social media as viewers at home and in the stands began to notice the child’s tactic. ESPN later showed her in action screaming during Fred VanVleet’s free throw towards the end of the third quarter. The crew later commended Diar for her efforts to distract her father’s opponents and former team. Diar appeared in the stands wearing a custom blinged-out Bulls jacket that was adorned with patches of her name, the Bulls official logo and the letter D. She teamed the outerwear with a red hoodie and denim jeans.
In an exclusive interview with ESPN, DeMar told the sports network that he heard the yells during the game and eventually noticed that it was coming from his daughter.
“I kept hearing something during the game during free throws,” Bulls guard DeMar DeRozan said after the game. “I looked back like … dang, that’s my daughter screaming.”
The 33-year-old basketball player later revealed that his daughter Diar begged him to skip school so that she could attend the big match and claimed that she really wanted to support him. In the end, DeMar was happy that he allowed her to cheer him on.
“My daughter called me the other day when she was getting out of school and she just said, ‘Dad, can I come to the Toronto game?'” DeRozan said. “I remember her going to all the Toronto games when she was a kid and I almost said no because she’s in school back home. But she kept asking. She was just adamant about coming to support and I said, ‘All right, you can miss one day of school and come to a game.’ I’m glad I did. I owe her some money for sure.”
With the win the Bulls advanced to face Miami Heat on Friday night in another win-or-go-home game, this time with a chance to make the playoffs and face the No. 1 seed Milwaukee Bucks in the first round.
