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Interview: DeRozan becomes first NBA player to engrave Chinese characters on shoes

Xinhua, January 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

In Friday night's 101-81 victory over Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors' DeMar DeRozan scored a game-high 33 points while wearing a pair of sneakers with Chinese characters on the heel.

The two Chinese characters for the word "sacrifice" is engraved in black ink on the back of the right heel of DeRozan's custom Kobe 11 Nike sneakers. DeRozan is the only NBA player in history to dawn shoes with Chinese calligraphy in an NBA game.

"People pointed out (being the first), definitely a cool thing," said DeRozan following the game in an exclusive one-on-one interview with Xinhua. "That's the cool thing about expressing yourself with shoes, something that is a part of you."

This pair of shoes were obtained from Nike in London last week when Raptors represented the league as part of NBA Global 2016. DeRozan did not debut the shoes until Jan. 20 against Celtics and has now worn the shoes twice.

When asked about the meaning of the word "sacrifice", the seven-year veteran believes that it is reflective of him as a person and his NBA journey so far.

"The ability to express the pain, sacrifice and hard work. Sacrifice is something you have to do if you want to be a great player," said DeRozan. "That's the significance of the Kobe 11."

Since joining the league in 2009, DeRozan has sacrificed hours of time to add elements to his game.

After becoming an All-Star for the first time in 2013, DeRozan is poised to join teammate Kyle Lowry this season with his 23.3 per game, good for tenth best in the league. Endit