In awful news for Lakers fans, Boogie stans, and anyone who loves bad-ass big men, DeMarcus Cousins reportedly suffered a serious knee injury while working out in Las Vegas, his third catastrophic leg injury in 19 months.
In January 2018, Boogie, then with the Pelicans, suffered a torn Achilles tendon a few weeks before he was to start the All-Star Game. Before he went down, Cousins was a near-lock to sign a maximum extension to play alongside Anthony Davis in New Orleans. After the injury, he found the free-agent market so chilly that he settled for a one-year deal with the Warriors for $5.3 million — a big step down from his max of five years and $175 million. Boogie joined four other All-Stars in Golden State, with the aim to rebuild his value and hit the market with healthy legs and a championship ring in a summer where teams had tons of cap space.
Instead, minutes into the Warriors’ second playoff game –- and Cousins’ second ever -– he suffered a torn quadriceps tendon. Incredibly, Cousins fought his way back again to join his shorthanded teammates in the NBA Finals, delivering a crucial 11 points, 10 boards and six assists in their Game 2 win over Toronto.
The market dried up for Cousins this summer, or maybe his experience with the Warriors made him hungry to return to the playoffs. He actually took a pay cut to reunite with Anthony Davis on the Lakers. But that reunion probably won’t happen now that he has suffered another leg injury, believed to be a torn ACL.
The injury is a physical and financial disaster for Boogie, but selfishly, we wanted to see Cousins in a front court with LeBron and the Brow, dunking on lesser centers, finding shooters for wide-open threes, and hitting his fellow All-Stars in stride for monster finishes. It’s not going to be the same with JaVale McGee and whatever bargain-bin center the Lakers grab to replace him -– Amir Johnson? Joakim Noah? The Polish Hammer, Marcin Gortat?
It’s a shame that Boogie’s healthy years were mostly spent in the obscurity and dysfunction of Sacramento, where he played for six coaches in just over six seasons, and then was unceremoniously dealt to New Orleans right after he played in the All-Star Game.
Cousins was a three-time All-Star for the Kings, arguably the only bright spot they had between Chris Webber and De’Aaron Fox. But they never managed to put talent around him. In the four years after it landed Boogie, Sacramento had four lottery picks, and came away with four busts: Jimmer Fredette, Thomas Robinson, Ben McLemore and Nik Stauskas. Their only good draft pick was Isaiah Thomas, and they traded him to Phoenix for Alex Oriakhi, a center who went on to play zero NBA games.
In his injury-shortened 2017-18 season with the Pelicans, Cousins averaged 25.2 points, 12.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists and shot 35.4 percent from long distance. It was magical to watch a player so big and so unstoppable in the post throw passes like a point guard. Without Boogie, New Orleans swept Portland in the first round, and it’s not crazy to think that a team with Davis, Jrue Holiday, Nikola Mirotic, and a healthy Boogie could have given the Warriors a scare.
Now, we’re thinking about what might have been for the third straight year, and there’s no guarantee Cousins will come back at all. It’s a loss for the Lakers, a tragedy for Boogie, and a huge loss for the NBA.
