ABOVE THE NOISE

A six-time NBA All-Star and two-time Olympic basketball gold medalist tells the story of how his sport helped him find the peace of mind and security he did not know as child.

Compton native DeRozan grew up amid constant hardships and danger, and he learned early to ask questions only when he had to and otherwise “mind [my] own business.” His escape was playing basketball, which began as pastime. But when he started watching VCR tapes of old NBA games his father swapped with neighbors, DeRozan quickly became obsessed with the seemingly superhuman skills of legends like Julius Erving, Alex English, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. As the author’s own athletic talents become more evident, his father encouraged his pursuit. However, the lessons his father taught him on the court were never easy and sometimes drove the author to tears. Yet the focus basketball instilled in him ensured that DeRozan avoided the rampant drugs and gang activity around him. A McDonald’s All-American team member in high school, he earned an athletic scholarship to USC, and he was drafted ninth overall by the Toronto Raptors in 2009. DeRozan marveled at the luxuries his new life afforded him and his family, but at the same time, he was forced to realize just how brutal the NBA business world—with its unannounced trades and sudden teammate departures—could be. As he recounts in this surprisingly honest tale, his greatest—and perhaps most humbling lesson—came from being forced to acknowledge his own limits after realizing he suffered from depression. However much he accomplished on the court and off, DeRozan was still a product of an unforgiving environment that forced even the most successful to bear the weight of “growing up in [a] cycle of pain, fear and forging onward,” despite countless “scars.”

Heartfelt and inspiring.