DeMar DeRozan's rejuvenated play last season in Chicago transpired, at least in part, because of his return to the national spotlight.

The All-Star guard said he felt "irrelevant" during his time in San Antonio due to the team's mediocre roster and lack of national attention.

"I felt like I was wiped off the map. ... That took a toll, especially [after] every single year going to the conference finals, conference semifinals, competing, winning 50-plus games, to all the sudden, you don't exist," DeRozan said on the Old Man and the Three podcast. "It was like, 'Damn, what's this? Hey, I'm here.' That's what I felt like.

"Granted, I had great games. I developed in a lot of great ways as a basketball player, but in the same token, I just felt nonexistent for those years. It wasn't like we was on TV, we wasn't competing. There was so much to it that was a struggle. ... I just felt like I was irrelevant."

DeRozan spent three seasons in San Antonio after a 2018 trade from the Toronto Raptors, missing the playoffs in each of his final two years with the team. Rarely a national television darling even in their heyday, the Spurs did not have a single nationally broadcast game during DeRozan's final season with the franchise.

While the Bulls were far from a championship contender, DeRozan found himself on the national stage much more last season simply by proxy of being in a major market. He looked like a far more motivated player, averaging a career-high 27.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.9 assists while making his first All-Star team since leaving Toronto.

The return to form was a bit of a surprise for most observers, many of whom wrote DeRozan off during his San Antonio sojourn. His three-year, $81.9 million contract went from one of the most derided of the 2021 offseason to being clearly a steal for the Bulls, who got max-level production at a decidedly below-max cost.