DeMar DeRozan isn’t the type of player to track accolades. So it came as a surprise to the Chicago Bulls star that Monday night’s game against the Atlanta Hawks marked yet another milestone: his 1,000th NBA game.
DeRozan is the 143rd player in league history to play 1,000 or more regular-season games. That achievement has become less common as the league adapts to the concept of load management. Only 17 of those players, including DeRozan, are active.
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It’s a rarity to remain relevant in the NBA long enough to tally 1,000 games. This latest milestone brought DeRozan a humbling reminder of his longevity — and durability.
“Some players don’t get the chance to even come close to that,” DeRozan said. “To have that opportunity to get there — knock on wood — it’s a hell of a milestone. That’s a lot of games.”
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Over the course of those 1,000 games, DeRozan has created a varied reputation: king of the fourth quarter, master of the midrange, record-setting buzzer-beater. Off the court, he commands a quiet undercurrent of respect from teammates and opponents alike.
And he invests heavily in the young talent on the roster — driving to Champaign for Ayo Dosunmu’s jersey retirement at Illinois, inviting Patrick Williams to train with him in Los Angeles in the summer, affectionately dubbing rookie Dalen Terry “his son” as he led him around Paris.
Bulls guard Alex Caruso credits DeRozan’s longevity to his magnanimity as much as his midrange jumper.
“To stick around for that long speaks volumes to the professionalism and to the kind of person that he is, the teammate he is,” Caruso said. “A lot of those things get overlooked. Guys get kicked out of the league for a lot less than basketball skill. Basketball skill is the bare minimum requirement.”
DeRozan’s outlook on durability was forged on his first day at USC. He hurt himself in practice — nothing too serious but enough to make him question whether he should finish the session.
Trojans coach Tim Floyd presented the freshman with a quandary: If DeRozan didn’t practice, his playing time wasn’t guaranteed.
DeRozan got the message. He stayed in practice and went on to start every game in his lone season at USC.
Nearly 15 years later, DeRozan’s dedication to remaining on the court has only deepened. He puts himself through annual “hell” workouts in the summer that make even the fittest teammates balk. He has rested for only 11.9 minutes per game this season. He has played in more than 90% of the possible games in his career.
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Even when he incurs an injury — such as the strained quadriceps that forced him to sit out three games before the Paris trip — DeRozan has to be persuaded to give his body a break. Caruso joked that it was a strange sight to come off the court and see DeRozan on the bench, ready to espouse advice he rarely has time for in a typical game.
“We don’t get to hear him on the sidelines much because he’s always trying to catch his breath and then getting ready to go right back in,” Caruso said.
DeRozan is quick to laugh off questions about his age: “I’m 33, I’m not dead.” But in his 14th NBA season, he knows he’s closer to the end of his career than the start and is taking more of a pause to soak in his accomplishments.
“I have never, ever taken this for granted,” DeRozan said. “That’s the one thing I stress to the younger guys now. I look back on my career and the amount of players I played with that just kind of suddenly disappeared in the wind.
“As much as I love this game, when you look at it from that perspective, the game can be taken away from you at any minute.”
