Raptors' DeRozan opens up about struggles with depression

Toronto Raptors shooting guard DeMar DeRozan was seemingly on top of the world. He was set to start in his fourth All-Star Game in his home state of California, roughly 25 minutes from where he grew up in Compton.

Then, out of the blue, DeRozan published a tweet on Feb. 17, one day prior to the star-studded exhibition, which caught many of his fans off guard: "This depression get the best of me."

What many interpreted as being a song lyric was, in actuality, DeRozan sharing how he felt, as he was seemingly going through a rough time.

"It’s one of them things that no matter how indestructible we look like we are, we’re all human at the end of the day,” DeRozan told The Toronto Star's Doug Smith. "We all got feelings ... all of that. Sometimes ... it gets the best of you, where times everything in the whole world’s on top of you."

DeRozan elaborated further, acknowledging he has "various nights" dating back to his childhood when he feels down, and his "standoffish" demeanor, to those who don't know him, is somewhat of a coping mechanism for him.

His tweet brought forth an outpouring of love and support for the 28-year-old.

"Sometimes you hear things from other people, such as doing something like that (the Saturday morning tweet). There could have been a better way to take that approach, but I got great words from a lot of people," he said.

"It’s not nothing I’m against or ashamed of. Now, at my age, I understand how many people go through it. Even if it’s just somebody can look at it like, ‘He goes through it and he’s still out there being successful and doing this,’ I’m OK with that."