“Love Drake,” but Kendrick Lamar likes “Family”

Newly signed Sacramento King DeMar DeRozan says it wasn’t a difficult decision to appear in Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” music video while the rapper continues to feud with Drake.

“I love Drake, I can always have him play (at Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center),” DeRozan told Fox40’s Sean Cunningham. “Kendrick is a friend of mine, a family friend. Almost family, has been for a long time, been for a while. We’re from the same city, we live in the same neighborhood down there.”

“It’s always been there. It wasn’t always made public, but that’s just how it is in the family.”

DeRozan appeared onstage with Russell Westbrook and Lamar for the first live performance of “Not Like Us” during the rappers’ Juneteenth concert.

The NBA star then made a cameo appearance in the music video for the Drake diss track, which was released last week.

DeRozan, who played his first nine NBA seasons for Drake’s hometown team, the Toronto Raptors, is seen in the video during the line, “I’m glad DeRoz came home, y’all didn’t deserve him either.”

Both DeRozan and Lamar are from Compton, California, where they attended high schools three miles apart.

“I knew Kendrick when I was a kid,” DeRozan told KC Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago in 2021. “It’s a small town. You get motivated by whoever comes before you. And everyone supports each other, the ones who are coming up.”

“It’s a crazy connection when you sit back and look at the people who have come through this city and are successful. I definitely have a great relationship with Kendrick.”

Now that DeRozan has appeared in one of Lamar’s music videos, the old friendship between the two Compton natives is becoming more widely known. DeRozan was even introduced to the Kings’ home crowd on Sunday while “Not Like Us” played in the background on Golden 1.