DeMar DeRozan admits that he owes his 9-year-old daughter money after she seemingly helped the Chicago Bulls win against the Toronto Raptors.
The Bulls are headed to Miami to battle against the Heat in the playoffs, and his daughter, Diar, was offered a free flight from United Airlines, TMZ reports. The free flight comes after Diar possibly helped her dad’s team stay in contention for the playoffs.
Diar became a viral sensation during Wednesday night’s game after screaming at the top of her lungs anytime the Raptors made a free throw shot. Her screams seemingly worked as the Raptors missed 18 free throws and ended up losing the game 109-105 to the Bulls, who go on to play against the Miami Heat for the eighth spot in the NBA playoffs.
Diar DeRozan deserved her own highlight reel tonight 🔥 https://t.co/nUMNKrGtVQ
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 13, 2023
After the game, DeRozen, who played for the Raptors for nine seasons, credited his daughter’s teamwork during the crucial match.
“Man, I just seen it, she went viral,” the six-time NBA-All Star said. “I haven’t let it soak in yet.”
“Everyone keeps saying. But that’s all right. I kept hearing something during the game, and it was on a free throw, somebody missed,d and I was like, ‘Damn, that’s my daughter screaming?’ I was just making sure she was all right, though.”
DeRozan admits his daughter wasn’t even supposed to be at the game due to her school schedule.
“What’s crazy, my daughter called me the other day when she was getting out of school… and she said, ‘Dad, can I come to the Toronto game? I remember coming to all the Toronto games’ when she was a kid,” he said during a post-game press conference.
“And I almost said no because she’s in school back home. She kept asking; she was just adamant about coming and support[ing],” he shared.
“And I said, ‘You can miss one day of school and come to a game.’ And I’m glad I did. I owe her some money, for sure.”
Now his daughter has a free flight offer courtesy of United Airlines ahead of Friday night’s match.
“The flight’s on us. What do you say, @DeMar_DeRozan? We’d love to take Diar’s talents to South Beach,” the airline tweeted on Thursday.
The flight's on us. What do you say, @DeMar_DeRozan? We’d love to take Diar’s talents to South Beach. https://t.co/6jnHOjecYy
— United Airlines (@united) April 13, 2023