The Sacramento Kings forward is often even keeled. But showed some visible frustration on Monday night.
DeMar DeRozan is rarely one to let his emotions boil over.
But Monday's Sacramento Kings loss to the New Orleans Pelicans witnessed one instance where he lost his cool. And threw down a water bottle in disgust during the third quarter of the teams' 13th consecutive loss.
Again, DeRozan rarely loses his cool. So what sparked the fiery reaction?
“A lot of stuff we do is self-inflicted. Us not being in the right spots, make it a chain reaction, them getting back in transition, getting easy shots, easy buckets, so (the water bottle incident) was just me wanting us to play the right way, win, lose or draw," DeRozan explained via Anderson.
DeRozan threw down in disgust in front of his head coach Doug Christie. However, the former Kings star turned coach shared how he attempted to diffuse the situation.
“I went down and sat with him for a second just to talk to him," Christie said via Anderson.
Christie also shared why DeRozan took it out on the water bottle.
"His frustration is more about, first of all, ending a skid, and also after being so close that it could go either way in so many games, this is the first time in a minute where we had this kind of result where we weren’t really in a game," Christie said.
Still, the perennial NBA All-Star finds himself on a rebuild as a 36-year-old with a decorated resume.
Even Christie mentioned before the Monday loss that Sacramento is building more towards the future and not the present. Christie dropped a grass growing analogy to detail the process involving this Kings team.
"The garden does not grow overnight,” Christie said. “You’ve got to go and pick the weeds. You’ve got to tend to the garden. You’ve to water it. You’ve got to care for it, and when there’s bugs and stuff, you’ve got to get those out, too."
However, is DeRozan now a "bug?"
DeRozan is a valuable leader for his younger teammates -- a la rookies Nique Clifford and Maxime Raynaud. Both have risen scoring wise next to DeRozan on the floor. Clifford more recently dropped 30 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers Saturday despite the loss.
Sacramento, however, attempted to trade DeRozan before Monday. Names like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Ja Morant and even James Harden surfaced in the trade market ahead of Thursday's deadline -- but general manager Scott Perry never orchestrated any moves.
Now, frustration boiled over for DeRozan. His third quarter scene paints the picture of a veteran who's reached the breaking point...and must wait until June for his next change of scenery.
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