Emily Chan
If you watched the Toronto Raptors and Chicago Bulls compete in the NBA play-in tournament game, you might have noticed what sounded like a shrill, high-pitched screaming in the background that occurred each time the Raptors stepped to the foul line.
Well, that’s exactly what it was. And the screams were coming from none other than 9-year-old Diar DeRozan, the daughter of Chicago Bulls player DeMar DeRozan.
DeMar was a star player for the Raptors during the first nine years of his career. So Diar had asked to skip school to support her dad in the crowd.
And support she did. Her persistent vocal cords helped pave the way to the Bulls’ victory. She did what no one else could’ve done and was genuinely a substantial contributing factor to the Bulls securing their win.
At one point, the Raptors had a 19-point lead during the game. So when it came to the free throws, Diar used her piercing screeches over the course of the entire game to distract the Raptors each time they were poised to shoot.
Her strategy actually worked because the Raptors ended up missing 18 out of 36 free throws, making it their worst free throw performance of the season.
The Bulls beat the Raptors with a final score of 109 to 105. A video from ESPN of Diar screaming went viral, receiving nearly five million views on TikTok.
“DeMar DeRozan’s daughter doing everything she can to make the Raptors miss,” read the caption of the video.
Many people praised Diar for assisting her dad from the sidelines. However, some were not in approval of the methods she utilized to help the Bulls gain the upper hand.
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