Drake Dissed By Sacramento Kings Owner After DeMar DeRozan Jabs

It seems like the Sacramento Kings and the Toronto Raptors might have quite the rivalry on their hands for the rest of the NBA season. By now, you’ve probably heard how Drake showed up to his Raptors’ home game against the Kings, where Cali native DeMar DeRozan eventually ended up after leaving the Toronto team some years ago. The 6ix God was mean-mugging DeRozan and verbalizing insults in his direction, all because of how the basketball player popped out for Drizzy’s sworn enemy Kendrick Lamar‘s concert and music video dissing the OVO mogul. While DeMar maintained that he still had love for both MCs and for the competitiveness of the genre, it seems like that’s not there anymore.

Furthermore, even Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadive popped out to support DeMar DeRozan, dissing Drake with a very simple sweatshirt at a recent game that read “They Not Like Us.” Whether or not all this rap battle drama and loyalty talk actually bleeds into the court is a mystery that these NBA teams’ fans will likely keep their eyes on for the foreseeable future.

Kings Owner Has A Message For Drake

In addition, this whole ruckus prompted conversations around whether or not the Toronto Raptors should retire DeMar DeRozan’s jersey, which Drake threatened to pull down if that ever happened. “Yeah, I think it should,” Houston Rockets player Fred VanVleet (a Raptors hooper from 2016 to 2023) said of whether or not DeRozan’s jersey should be in the Toronto rafters. “I think it should. I think that when you look at what he did, you know, especially when you want to give the history of the franchise and what Vince and all of those guys meant at the beginning and what that meant for Canadian basketball.”

Some people completely understand where both Drake and DeMar DeRozan are coming from here, whereas others think it’s a pretty silly matter. After all, this is the NBA, not the URL or a concert. Nevertheless, people will continue to offer their split reactions to this beef extension. We’ll see whether or not Kendrick Lamar pops out for a game or two… Well, apart from his Super Bowl halftime show for the NFL, that is.

About The Author

Gabriel Bras Nevares is a staff writer for HotNewHipHop. He joined HNHH while completing his B.A. in Journalism & Mass Communication at The George Washington University in the summer of 2022.

Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Gabriel treasures the crossover between his native reggaetón and hip-hop news coverage, such as his review for Bad Bunny’s hometown concert in 2024. But more specifically, he digs for the deeper side of hip-hop conversations, whether that’s the “death” of the genre in 2023, the lyrical and parasocial intricacies of the Kendrick Lamar and Drake battle, or the many moving parts of the Young Thug and YSL RICO case.

Beyond engaging and breaking news coverage, Gabriel makes the most out of his concert obsessions, reviewing and recapping festivals like Rolling Loud Miami and Camp Flog Gnaw. He’s also developed a strong editorial voice through album reviews, think-pieces, and interviews with some of the genre’s brightest upstarts and most enduring obscured gems like Homeboy Sandman, Bktherula, Bas, and Devin Malik.