DeMar DeRozan was exposed to the lush life well before he ever became a Toronto Raptor or made his first million. As a teenager on an AAU team sponsored by hip-hop mogul Percy "Master P" Miller, DeRozan fostered a still-close relationship with Miller's son, rapper/actor Romeo, and would spend weekends at the Miller home, surrounded by a level of opulence that belied his modest existence back home in Compton, Calif.

Visits to shopping malls with Romeo usually ended with a swarm of fans trailing them every step of the way. DeRozan got to sit in on video and movie shoots. He learned about the work required to earn and maintain celebrity – and decided that the chase for fame would never outpace the drive to succeed.

View photos DeMar DeRozan's game has seemingly grown each season. (AP) More

“I got to see both worlds. You see that lifestyle early on and you realize, ‘This is what it is?’ ” DeRozan told Yahoo Sports. “I already had my mindset when I had nothing. It’s cool to have all that, but it’s all about the work and the grind to get to that.”

DeRozan describes his lifestyle off the court as "stagnant" because he craves quiet more than attention. Time not spent playing basketball or working on his game likely involves watching basketball or cartoons with his daughter Diar. “It’s not what some people expect. They look at you, like, ‘You’re in the league. You’ve got all this. You’re supposed to do this. You’re supposed to do that,' ” DeRozan told Yahoo. “Keep it simple, nothing special. I’m just content with doing that. You know, the little things matter.”

Toronto is the NBA's fourth-largest market but playing in Canada has always meant dealing with a certain amount of obscurity that suits DeRozan just fine. The Raptors have been his only team in seven seasons, and DeRozan would like that to remain the case after he opts out of the final year of his four-year, $40 million contract and becomes a free agent this summer. Based on his All-Star caliber play through the first few months of this season, DeRozan will have no shortage of suitors, but Toronto can pay more than any other team – and DeRozan has taken to the place.

“Toronto is all I’ve known, honestly. I came in, 19, everything was completely new for me. I appreciated the support, the love,” DeRozan, 26, told Yahoo. “I treated it like home since then.”

Either from mismanagement or sustained misery, the Raptors have historically watched their best players bolt at the first opportunity. Damon Stoudamire and Tracy McGrady fled to play close to their respective home towns as free agents; Vince Carter, after years of injury and frustration over criticism for being hurt, forced his way onto the New Jersey Nets; and Chris Bosh went to Miami to form a super team.

DeRozan was a rookie during Bosh's final season in Toronto in 2009-10 and observed closely how he departed, disappointed by a tenure that never yielded any postseason success. The other defections are part of Raptors lore that is inescapable for their longest-tenured player.

View photos Percy 'Master P' Miller in 2015. (AP) More

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