SAN FRANCISCO — DeMar DeRozan used to cry when his mother called him home from the basketball court at night.
It’s a story he likes to tell. DeRozan was just like any other fanatical young hooper who spent the twilight hours hoping their mom wouldn’t notice when the streetlights flickered on, even for a few more minutes.
When she did finally stick her head outside to shout for him to get inside, DeRozan had all the stalling tactics at the ready. Denial, anger, bargaining, tears — the natural stages of being told a long day of pickup is over. They didn’t buy much — maybe enough for one more run, one more game point, one more shot — because nothing can prevent the inevitability of dinnertime.
That’s why DeRozan cherished the summer months, when the sunlight offered the most potential time on the court. And it’s why he still spends offseasons playing in pro-am leagues that most 34-year-olds with four kids have long since abandoned.
So every time DeRozan is asked about his playing time for the Chicago Bulls this season, he shrugs and gives the same smiling response: “I love it.”
“I still feel the same way,” he said. “I just want to play as much as I can, as long as I can.”
It’s an uncommon feat for a player to log one of his heaviest workloads in his 15th NBA season. But DeRozan is an uncommon player. He has missed only two games — one for a family emergency, one for a minor injury — and is averaging 37.8 minutes.
That means the Bulls play only 10.2 minutes per game without DeRozan on the court. His playing time was higher in only the 2013-14 season, when he earned his first All-Star selection at age 24 while averaging 38.2 minutes.
DeRozan has been jockeying all season with teammate Coby White — who’s 10 years younger — for the league lead in total minutes played. Entering Thursday night’s game against the Golden State Warriors, White had played 2,283 minutes to DeRozan’s 2,269. Only three other players over 30 have logged at least 2,000 minutes this season: Anthony Davis (30), Kevin Durant (35) and Rudy Gobert (31).
Coach Billy Donovan understands the value of DeRozan’s eagerly consistent availability — especially in Year 15, especially for a team wracked by season-ending injuries.
“He’s got an old-school mentality,” Donovan said. “It’s: ‘Line up and play. I did it my whole life. I love the game. I want to be out there as much as I can.’ And I don’t take it for granted.”
Donovan also understands he needs to balance DeRozan’s schedule. As the season winds on, he’ll give veterans recovery days when the rest of the team practices, limiting the wear and tear accumulated between games.
This isn’t always an easy task, something Donovan learned quickly. It was hard enough getting DeRozan to sit out the final regular-season game the last two seasons to prepare for the postseason.
But with a current rotation that has an average age of 27, Donovan sees the impact that DeRozan’s insistence on staying in the game has on the young roster.
“It’s not only the workload for him — it’s also the leadership role,” Donovan said. “It’s a veteran position where guys look up to him. With a lot of younger players, he’s very willing with his time and energy to give it to them. He never complains about anything. He looks at everything as a challenge.”
DeRozan has played too many games and seasons in his life to learn all that much from a few extra minutes. But he does learn by playing tired.
That’s a distinction he always has made. Series and titles are won by tired players. And with the Bulls leading the league in clutch finishes — 164 minutes over 36 games — DeRozan is getting plenty of chances to play tired.
He felt it in Monday’s comeback win against the Sacramento Kings, the exhaustion creeping into his and White’s limbs, making the third quarter feel a little heavier than normal. But DeRozan also knows how to shake that exhaustion, how to let it make him feel a little sharper.
The results are on the stat sheet. DeRozan went 13-for-19 from the field for a combined 36 fourth-quarter points in wins over the Kings and Utah Jazz. He’s shooting 49.4% and averaging 4.2 points this season in the clutch — defined as a five-point margin or smaller in the final five minutes — which trails only the Warriors’ Stephen Curry and the Portland Trail Blazers’ Anfernee Simons in both efficiency and production.
This isn’t a trend the Bulls want to repeat. But anytime they find themselves in clutch situations, DeRozan aims to be readily available — even if that means a heavier workload.
“I just want to be out there helping, doing however much I can do,” DeRozan said. “Whatever is called for me from any game is what I try to do.”
