Description:

DeMar DeRozan, six-time NBA All-Star, has been called a "basketball savant" (ESPN) and "the best closer in the NBA" (GQ)—but when he went public with his depression, it sparked a conversation that reached far beyond the court. By breaking the stigma of speaking out, he added a new, seldom-heard voice to the mental health dialogue: a successful Black male athlete, openly naming his pain and advocating for others to do the same. In Above the Noise: My Story of Chasing Calm, DeRozan opens up about his proudest triumphs and the times he felt so weighed down he couldn’t get out of bed. He reflects on what it took to make a name for himself in a new country after getting drafted by the Toronto Raptors, the pressure of playing with veteran athletes as a twenty-year-old rookie, and the pain of losing role models.

DeRozan will be in conversation with a New York Times bestselling poet, essayist, cultural critic, and 2021 MacArthur Fellow Hanif Abdurraqib.