MIAMI — It didn’t take long for Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan to be reminded about how a fun, feel-good story can turn ugly.
That’s what DeRozan was dealing with Friday after it was learned that online threats were made to his 9-year-old daughter, Diar, who went viral for her screaming ability during the game Wednesday against the Raptors.
‘‘What’s crazy is, it’s just the world that we live in,’’ DeRozan said after the Bulls’ loss to the Heat. ‘‘No matter how good something could go, something could be, you’ve still got miserable people out there that just don’t have a life, honestly. It’s sad. . . .
‘‘But more than anything, all I care about is my daughter enjoying her moment, her time. Keep that within our circle. I don’t let her get caught up in all that negative stuff that comes on the outside. That’s just me being a protector as a father and me knowing what it’s like on the other end, being famous and everything. It’s just sad and miserable that some people sit up and use their fingers to make any type of idle threats to children.’’
Diar persuaded DeRozan to allow her to attend the game in Toronto, and she wasted no time making her presence felt, screaming every time a Raptors player was at the free-throw line. Did it work? Well, the home team did miss 18 free throws, helping the Bulls come back to beat them.
TV picked up what was going on by the second half and featured her through the rest of the game as the Raptors’ missed free throws kept piling up. But that’s when the online threats started coming.
Bulls security wanted to walk her out for precautionary reasons, but she left with DeRozan. He made it clear he was the best security she could have.
‘‘She left with me,’’ he said. ‘‘I was with her. I guarantee you nothing will ever happen when I’m with my daughter.’’
