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    "original_url": "https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7595799\/2026\/09\/17\/demar-derozan-nba-mental-health-raptors-bulls-kings\/?emc=edit_na_20260917&nl=breaking-news&segment_id=226648",
    "parsed_content": "DeMar DeRozan is a champion for mental health: \u201cWe're still human. ... It\u2019s OK if you gotta cry or let it out, you know? It\u2019s OK to take a moment for yourself.\u201d Mark Blinch \/ Getty ImagesLOS ANGELES \u2014 It\u2019s almost over.Sometimes, when he\u2019s alone, taking a beat from the demands of the day, DeMar DeRozan repeats that phrase again and again: It\u2019s almost over. It\u2019s almost over.The phrase reminds him to play with urgency, to cherish this upcoming season, because he is acutely aware he has more time on an NBA court behind him than he does in front of him.\u201cIt\u2019s not a negative thing,\u201d DeRozan says. \u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful thing. You can\u2019t do this forever, but while you\u2019re in it, give it all you got, so when it\u2019s time to walk away, you\u2019re at ease with everything.\u201dThe six-time All-Star is both near the end of his career and approaching a new beginning \u2014 feeling like a rookie and a veteran at the same time. DeRozan signed with the Denver Nuggets in early September on a one-year deal.\n \n \n \n \n Catch Up On The Story\n \n \n \n \n DeMar DeRozan, Nuggets agree to 1-year, $3.9 million deal: Sources\n \n \n DeRozan, 37, started 77 games for the Kings in 2025-26 but was waived earlier in the offseason.\n \n \n \n \n \n This will be his 18th season. Even hearing that number \u2014 18 \u2014 is shocking to him, as he believes he has a lot left to give. But he is also quietly, and meaningfully, pursuing interests after basketball: his keen interest in mental health issues and figuring out how to transform that topic from conversation to action, from podcasts to policy, to reach more people \u2014 specifically, young boys and men \u2014 who are struggling to cope with mental health challenges and emotional isolation.DeRozan first ignited the NBA\u2019s conversation on mental health back in 2018, sharing that he struggled with depression, and has done more to destigmatize the subject than many other professional athletes. He inspired Kevin Love, another prominent face of the movement, to begin his own journey. DeRozan also wrote a memoir, \u201cAbove the Noise: My Story of Chasing Calm.\u201dHe has a YouTube series, \u201cDinners with DeMar,\u201d where he interviews influential people about their mental health journey. Each day, he is reminded of his purpose.A college student recently came up to him while he was working out, telling him how much DeRozan\u2019s words made him feel seen. In another instance, a young man came up to him and told him, \u201cYou saved my life.\u201dDeRozan\u2019s mind returns to the image of a father. He came up to DeRozan: \u201cMy son was suicidal until he heard your story.\u201d\u201cThat means the world to me because a lot of times, it\u2019s just me speaking honestly about things I\u2019m going through, things that I may feel,\u201d DeRozan says. \u201cFor people to come up to me and acknowledge that means I\u2019m doing the right thing by being vulnerable and putting myself out there to have these conversations because it\u2019s helping somebody. Even if it\u2019s just one person, it\u2019s helpful.\u201dBut as he joins a new team and embraces a new city, he is asking himself: How can he make the most of the time he has left in the NBA and create meaningful change outside of hoops in the present moment?\n DeMar DeRozan and Matt Barnes connect during a taping of \u201cDinners with DeMar,\u201d DeRozan\u2019s YouTube series focusing on mental health.Courtesy of Danny KatzDeRozan likes the tranquility of Denver, and he is currently searching for a home within the city. Being in a new environment is a cause for reflection.\u201cIt\u2019s easy to get content with what you\u2019re comfortable with, and, sometimes, you got to get out of your comfort zone to grow even more,\u201d he says.Nikola Joki\u0107, Aaron Gordon and Jamal Murray all called him before he signed with the team, which meant a lot to DeRozan. That played a part in him wanting to sign with the Nuggets. These new teammates, like him, understand what it means to be a veteran \u2014 to be conscious of the window getting smaller.\u201cWhen I came in the league, I never would have imagined or thought I\u2019d be playing that long,\u201d says DeRozan, 37. \u201cAnd when you get in, you don\u2019t realize how fast and how much time goes by. \u2026 It\u2019s a blessing to be able to play this long.\u201dBeing released by Sacramento in July, after playing for the Kings for just two years, was difficult.\u201cYou gain relationships with players, staff, people within the organization,\u201d says DeRozan, who averaged 18.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 4.1 assists for the 2025-26 season. \u201cIt\u2019s always tough to leave. I was extremely close with a lot of people.\u201dIt also caused him to question his own hoops mortality.Am I near the end with basketball?Is this it?What really is next for me?\u201cYou definitely have those thoughts,\u201d DeRozan says. \u201cIt\u2019s just the reality of it. \u2026 It comes down to how much longer you want to do it, how much longer you want to push yourself physically and mentally and emotionally to do something you love.\u201dThat causes him to think of how he can channel that drive into something other than basketball.\u201cArt, visuals, film, writing,\u201d he says. \u201cTo inspire other people to tell their stories.\u201dFilm, especially, has his heart in telling mental health stories in the future.\u201cReally putting these stories together from a visual standpoint, becoming a story you can watch,\u201d he says. \u201cWe read stories, we hear stories, we pay attention and find inspiration from stories. \u2026 I think it would be amazing.\u201cWe all got a story.\u201d\n DeRozan, a six-time NBA All-Star, has openly struggled with depression but is a longtime advocate who assists others in dealing with it.Soobum Im \/ Getty ImagesBack in late July, DeRozan sat at a steakhouse in Los Angeles, taping an episode of \u201cDinners with DeMar.\u201d His guest was Lonzo Ball, a longtime friend, former Chicago Bulls teammate and fellow Southern California native.About midway through the interview, DeRozan asked Ball about his mother, Tina. She previously had a stroke. Ball paused. His face tightened, initially struggling to get the words out. Ball began to cry.DeRozan sat, patiently, not changing the expression on his face. He didn\u2019t try to talk through the moment or ask if Ball needed a minute. He let his guest be vulnerable. Ball felt safe enough to let his emotions out with DeRozan, in a way an interview subject only can when they trust their interviewer.The more the tears fell, the more Ball opened up about how his mother\u2019s struggles challenged him and his entire family. For Ball, it put life into perspective. DeRozan, whose mother has health challenges of her own, offered empathy without taking over the segment.The moment was a microcosm of the work DeRozan is deeply engaged in. While with the Kings, he started to think how he could take his mental-health conversations to a wider audience. Though fireside chats and mental-health events, all of which are regularly a part of his schedule, do move the needle, DeRozan has felt for a while that there needs to be some other mechanism to transform these conversations into action.The more he heard sobering statistics about young men in America battling mental-health struggles and loneliness, the more avidly he brainstormed how he could help.Nationally, men account for nearly 80 percent of suicide deaths. Young Black men are dying by suicide at higher rates than their White peers for the first time.\u201cWe carry so much weight on our shoulders. We sweep so much stuff under the rug, so you don\u2019t even realize how much until you uncover it,\u201d DeRozan says, \u201cand you realize how much hurt, how much pain, how much stuff you compartmentalize. You never know when that breaking point may hit.\u201cThe approach I try to take is being vulnerable and letting people know you\u2019re not alone.\u201dHe tried to meet with California Gov. Gavin Newsom and first partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom to discuss how he could help with state initiatives to help struggling young boys and men in the governor\u2019s various programs. He invited the Newsoms to be guests on \u201cDinners with DeMar\u201d and also invited them to participate in an event he held. They both had conflicting schedules, but DeRozan has not lost sight of the importance of reaching out in his community. He has a new landscape in front of him in Colorado and will be looking to make an impact there.\u201cYoung men are struggling, and too many still feel like they\u2019re supposed to handle everything themselves and keep what they\u2019re going through inside,\u201d says Brett Rapkin, founder of Podium Pictures and creator of \u201cDinners with DeMar.\u201d\u201cDeMar has the authenticity and reach to redefine what strength looks like for young men and use storytelling to create real cultural impact at scale.\u201dAs his day in L.A. winds down, DeRozan takes a beat at a nearby table. He folds his right arm across his body, revealing one of his favorite tattoos, which reads: Why would they care about you?He remembered hearing that when he was young, as if he did not matter. As if what he was going through was unimportant.\u201cI had ended up getting it tatted on me because it was just like, I\u2019ll never forget those words. I never let something like that affect me,\u201d DeRozan says.The negativity that tried to hold him back, growing up in Compton, Calif., was something that always motivated him to push past. It still does.It\u2019s almost over.He can feel that urgency again. That desire to give his all before he no longer has the chance to. Getting older, being in his 30s, has reminded him of how quickly time passes. How he, too, needs to tend to his own mental-health struggles.\u201cI\u2019m far from perfect. I still have my days,\u201d DeRozan says. \u201cWe\u2019re still human. \u2026 It\u2019s OK if you gotta cry or let it out, you know? It\u2019s OK to take a moment for yourself.\u201dHe doesn\u2019t want young boys to feel how he felt growing up.Why would they care about you?So, he offers a new message:You do matter.If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.\nMirin Fader is a senior writer for The Athletic, writing long-form features, primarily on the NBA. Mirin is also the New York Times best-selling author of GIANNIS: The Improbable Rise of an NBA Champion and DREAM: The Life and Legacy of Hakeem Olajuwon. She has told compelling human-interest features on some of our most complex, most dominant heroes from the NBA, NFL, WNBA and NCAA, most recently at The Ringer. Her work has been featured in the Best American Sports Writing books. She lives in Los Angeles.Follow Sep 17, 2026SUPPORTED BYConnections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports termsSUPPORTED BYPlay today's puzzleWhat did you think of this story?MEHSOLIDAWESOME",
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