Chicago Bulls star DeMar DeRozan doesn’t want his daughter Diar to miss any more school after she attended — and possibly swung the game in the Bulls’ favor — the team’s 109-105 play-in tournament win over the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday instead of being in class.
But if the forward lets the 9-year-old playoff hero attend his team’s game against the Heat in Miami tonight, United — which is headquartered in the Windy City and owns the naming rights to the Bulls’ home arena — will pay her way.
“We’d love to take Diar’s talents to South Beach,” the airline said, cheekily.
Shout it, shout it, shout it out loud
On Wednesday, Toronto — a team that shot 78.4 percent on free throws for the season — only managed to hit half of its 36 shots from the charity stripe with Diar screaming her lungs out from the crowd. Zach Lavine dropped 30 points in the second half, but the Bulls, who stormed back after trailing by 19, named Diar “DeMVP of the night” for her 36 screams.
NBC Sports Chicago even mocked up a letter excusing Diar’s absence “due to some important family matters that require [her] attention.”
We’re sure she can make up whatever work she has later.
Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m. on TNT.
How they got here
The Bulls finished the regular season with a 40-42 record and earned the No. 9 seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Heat went 44-38, earning the East’s No. 8 seed. However, Miami fell to the Atlanta Hawks, 116-105, despite 33 points from Kyle Lowry.