DeMar DeRozan isn't done talking about mental health - ESPN

DEMAR DEROZAN WALKS onto the stage and grabs a microphone. It's Feb. 20, two days after the NBA All-Star Game. While the Bulls are holding their first practice after the break in Chicago, DeRozan has an excused absence to be back at his alma mater at the University of Southern California.

DeRozan sits on one of the high chairs on the stage and begins to scan the room, a crowd of about 300 people, most of them USC student athletes who are eagerly anticipating his next words.

Those in attendance got a first look at «Dinners with DeMar,» DeRozan's new biweekly YouTube video series that debuted in February, where he chats with close friends in and around the NBA — Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green, Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade and Milwaukee Bucks star Damian Lillard headline the first three episodes — not for a basketball discussion, but to discuss a topic dear to DeRozan: mental health.

«Not much makes me nervous,» DeRozan says on stage. «But this does.»

DeRozan welcomes two USC basketball players to the stage for a mental health discussion.

«What's something you have struggled with as student-athletes?» DeRozan asks, starting the conversation.

Boogie Ellis, a fifth-year senior from San Diego who played his first two seasons at Memphis, detailed how he struggled being so far from home before transferring to USC as a junior.

«I was sitting in my room, not wanting to play basketball or do anything,» Ellis says.

«A lot of guys have a stigma like y'all don't go through nothing,» says Dominique Darius, a 21-year-old sophomore on the USC women's team. «That's not true.»

«What's one way to help your teammates when you can tell they're struggling with something?» DeRozan asks.

«Being vulnerable with your teammates,» Darius