DeMarcus Cousins is currently the backup center for the Denver Nuggets. He has played a key role for this Nuggets squad, as a backup to Nikola Jokic. He has averaged 8.9 PPG, 5.5 RPG, and 1.7 APG for the Nuggets during the regular season.
While DeMarcus Cousins is a role player currently, there was once a time when he was considered one of the best centers in the league. He was an insane offensive center during his time with the Sacramento Kings and the New Orleans Pelicans. However, his performance dropped off after a string of catastrophic injuries.
When speaking to Marc Spears of Andscape, DeMarcus Cousins opened up on his career. He claimed that he appreciates anyone that is “gracious” towards his career, but added that for “the rest” of the haters, it is a “middle finger to you”.
Times have certainly changed for Cousins as major injuries such as a torn Achilles, quadriceps and ACL caused him to go from being an NBA star making max money to a role player who has been waived, signed to 10-day contracts and lost millions of dollars. The 31-year-old owns career averages of 19.6 points, 10.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists while averaging 22 points or more in seven seasons.
But two things that haven’t changed about the two-time All-NBA selection are his desire to play through all the pain and his ability to speak his mind without filter.
“As long as they appreciate me, that’s all that really matters to me,” Cousins told Andscape. “Everybody doesn’t appreciate everybody’s greatness. There are people out here that hate on Michael Jordan. There are people that hate on LeBron James. People that hate Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, the list goes on.
“For those that are gracious to my career, I appreciate you. But the rest of them, you know what it is. Middle finger to you.”
There is no doubt that DeMarcus Cousins’ career is a big what if. He could have potentially been a dominant big for years if not for injuries. There is no doubt that he was a force in his prime, with many such as Myles Turner respecting his ability.
While he is not the same player now, we can still appreciate what DeMarcus Cousins brought to the game of basketball. He was a hyper-versatile offensive big, and in some ways, he was a predecessor that paved the way for some of the big men that we see today.
