Programming note: Watch Morgan Ragan's full interview with DeMar DeRozan on "Kings Central" at 6 p.m. PT Wednesday on NBC Sports California before "Kings Pregame Live."
DeMar DeRozan is a six-time NBA All-Star, three-time All-NBA member, an Olympic gold medalist, and now, an author.
And apparently, those things go hand in hand more than one might think.
The Kings star sat down with NBC Sports California's Morgan Ragan on "Kings Central" and detailed some of the similarities between writing a book and playing basketball.
"The love and the passion you put behind it," DeRozan said. "You can't be your best you or put out the best product whether on the floor or off the floor toward something if you're not passionate about it or you don't deeply care about it. So those two things definitely go hand in hand for me."
DeRozan's memoir, "Above the Noise," chronicles his very public struggle with depression and mental health. It was published this summer just after DeRozan joined the Kings via a sign-and-trade deal.
As someone who has accomplished so much on the basketball court, DeRozan shared what he's most proud of from the success and reaction to his first book.
U.S. & World
"Just doing a book, first off," DeRozan told Ragan. "I never in my life, if you would've asked me if I would be an author of a book, I wouldn't believe it. But just the reception I got from it of just expressing my life story and figuring out so much about myself that I still needed to work on. Understanding that life is a continuous journey that you got to go through.
"And you got to continue these chapters in life that you go through. Sometimes, looking back at a lot of your chapters you went through, you can see where you would've corrected certain things and you understand the mistakes made and what type of person it made you try to strive to be better at. That's how I view it."
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One thing's for certain: whether it's writing a book or knocking down jump shots, DeRozan is really good at both.
