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DeMar DeRozan on Kevin Love in Players' Tribune: It Feels Good to Help Somebody

Joseph Zucker@@JosephZuckerX.com LogoFeatured Columnist

Toronto Raptors' DeMar DeRozan brings the ball into play during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press

Toronto Raptors star DeMar DeRozan was uplifted upon reading of his role in a Players' Tribune piece where Cleveland Cavaliers star Kevin Love outlined a panic attack he experienced and how it impacted his outlook on his personal mental health.

Speaking to reporters after Tuesday's 106-90 win over the Atlanta Hawks, DeRozan said reading of how he indirectly helped Love "made me feel, you know, pretty damn good, honestly." The Raptors shared his full comments:

Toronto Raptors @Raptors

"It made me feel, you know, pretty damn good, honestly. So it's cool to be able to help somebody." - @DeMar_DeRozan on Kevin Love's Players' Tribune article https://t.co/wyvmoSOuAB

DeRozan also reached out to Love via a tweet posted on Wednesday:

DeMar DeRozan @DeMar_DeRozan

Much respect to @kevinlove!!!!

In the Players' Tribune, Love wrote he had experienced a panic attack during Cleveland's 117-115 defeat to the Atlanta Hawks on Nov. 5.

"Since that day, almost everything about the way I think about my mental health has changed," Love said.

The five-time All-Star also explained how he felt more comfortable being open about his situation after DeRozan had addressed similar issues recently.

DeRozan tweeted out a song lyric about depression in February that led him to be frank about his mental health:

DeMar DeRozan @DeMar_DeRozan

This depression get the best of me...

"It's one of them things that no matter how indestructible we look like we are, we're all human at the end of the day," DeRozan said in an interview with the Toronto Star's Doug Smith. "We all got feelings ... all of that. Sometimes ... it gets the best of you, where times everything in the whole world's on top of you."

Love wrote he believes DeRozan's candor could have a big impact: "Because just by sharing what he shared, DeMar probably helped some people—and maybe a lot more people than we know—feel like they aren't crazy or weird to be struggling with depression. His comments helped take some power away from that stigma, and I think that's where the hope is."