Getty Bulls star DeMar DeRozan is third in the NBA in scoring.
Chicago Bulls star DeMar DeRozan entered this season averaging at least 20.0 points in eight straight campaigns.
That streak will go up to nine after this season is over, as the California native is putting up 28.1 points per game in his first year with the Bulls.
Behind DeRozan and Zach LaVine, the Bulls are in first place in the Eastern Conference standings heading into the All-Star break. They have a stellar record of 38-21 and both DeRozan and LaVine were named All-Stars.
When the Bulls signed DeRozan in free agency via a sign-and-trade deal with the San Antonio Spurs, most fans and pundits thought he wouldn’t mesh well with LaVine. However, not only has the former Toronto Raptors guard been a great fit with LaVine and the Bulls, but he’s also making NBA history.
DeRozan Broke Wilt Chamberlain’s 60-Year-Old NBA Record
Behind 38 points from DeRozan, the Bulls defeated the Sacramento Kings in their final game before the All-Star break by a final score of 125-118. By scoring 38 points, the five-time All-Star became the first player in NBA history to post seven straight games with 35 or more points while shooting 50.0% or better, breaking Wilt Chamberlain’s record of six games.
Chamberlain achieved this feat twice, the last time coming in 1963.
“Just to be in the record books along with staples in this basketball history is speechless,” DeRozan said, via K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. “As a kid, as a fan of the history of the game, being in the league as long I’ve been in the league, things like that continue to make me even more humble.”
DeRozan averaged 38.6 points while shooting 60.7% from the field over the Bulls’ final seven games before the All-Star break. Chicago went 5-2 despite playing three games without LaVine, who went to Los Angeles to see a knee specialist after dealing with discomfort in his left knee.
Despite being 32 and in his 13th NBA season, DeRozan is playing the best basketball of his career this campaign and there’s no end in sight to his stunning play since the mid-range master is “completely locked.”
DeRozan: ‘I’m Just Completely Locked in as Soon as I Come to Work’
DeRozan is averaging a career-high 28.1 points this season. He’s third in the NBA in scoring and credits his laser-focused mindset for helping him dominate games.
“It’s one of those things where I’m just completely locked in as soon as I come to work, understanding I want to be able to leave work with a win by any means necessary,” DeRozan said, via Johnson. “I stand on that. I try to challenge myself every single day I come to work no matter how I feel, no matter if I’m having a personal good day or bad day.”
DeRozan will start for Team LeBron in the 2022 All-Star Game alongside LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Deebo is the first Bulls player to start in an All-Star Game since Pau Gasol in 2015. He’s been so incredible this season that Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant took to Twitter to thank him.
“Thank you for setting a great example and playing the game with supreme skill @DeMar_DeRozan,” Durant wrote on Twitter.
DeRozan is one of the few players in the NBA who destroys his opponents from the mid-range, a lost art in today’s game, and Durant appreciates the craftsmanship.