Appearing on the All The Smoke podcast with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, Warriors president of basketball operations Bob Myers said that free agent big man DeMarcus Cousins got in touch with him in October to ask why he’s not in the NBA, as Tristi Rodriguez of NBC Sports Bay Area writes.
According to Myers, he explained to Cousins that because of his reputation as a potentially disruptive locker-room presence, the veteran center has to go above and beyond what people expect from him.
“I said, ‘You want that answer? … Because people are afraid of how you’re going to act,'” Myers said. “And he’s like, ‘Why?’ And I said, ‘Well whatever the reason is, it’s here now.’ And I like DeMarcus. … I can’t blame him for him because of all he’s been through.
“… I said, ‘Here’s the issue, you have to act better. To get back, you can’t just be average. You’ve got to convince people.’ And that’s not really fair, but that’s just what it is.”
As Dario Skerletic of Sportando relayed earlier this week, reports out of Taiwain have indicated that Cousins could follow in Dwight Howard‘s footsteps and join a Taiwainese team, but that has yet to be confirmed.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Speaking of Howard, the three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year will miss the next couple weeks for the Taoyuan Leopards due to a knee injury, his Taiwanese club announced (story via BasketNews.com). Howard, who logged 91 total minutes during a back-to-back set last weekend and averaged 30.5 PPG, 17.0 RPG, and 9.5 APG in the two games, said his body is still adjusting to playing so much.
- In other international basketball news, Olympiacos forward Sasha Vezenkov won the EuroLeague’s “MVP of the Round” award on Saturday for the fourth time in 10 weeks so far this season, per a press release. Vezenkov, whose NBA rights were acquired by the Kings this past summer, is one of five draft-and-stash players we highlighted on Friday as candidates to eventually make an impact in the NBA. He ranks second in the EuroLeague with 20.1 points per game.
- Sam Vecenie of The Athletic prefaces his list of top 100 prospects by observing that the 2023 NBA draft looks “wide open” outside of the top 10, with a ton of first-round slots potentially up for grabs depending on which players have strong seasons. Vecenie adds that several of this year’s highest-rated freshman have been slowed by injuries or have underperformed in the early going, making the class more difficult to evaluate.
Howard can’t handle the workload of dominating the Taiwan league? I don’t know why, but I think that’s funny.
He can as long as he’s getting some from everyone
yea….at 45 minutes per game??
He;’s going to be 37 in a few weeks and hasn’t played in months.
Yeah a 37 year old playing 91 minutes in a back to back….you dont know ball Lyman, and how could you: you died in 1978 (RIP).
Yeah but he was still good enough at that age and in those minutes to dominate them. He should be able to handle it, even at 37. He’s a world class athlete playing against super inferior competition. There’s dudes that age playing street ball and at rec centers playing more minutes than that against equal completion and consecutive days. I’ve played with dudes like that. Maybe you don’t know ball.
A’sfan, you keep making stupid comments about my tag name. I’m paying homage to a great man and ball player that died very tragically. Which most people don’t even know about. He was a very unique player and man The fact you always point out how he’s dead is disgusting. Most of your comments annoy people. I see it all the time on here.
This is just another example of that.
I was a kid…I beliiiieve Bostock was on the halos at that time. a jealous ex
Yeah, and he wasn’t even dating the girl he was sitting in the cab with. Just being a good friend. He was on the Halos. He had signed with them as a FA. Had a horrible first half his first year and tried to give the money he made that half, back to the Angels. When they wouldn’t take it, he donated it. Citing that he hadn’t earned that pay.
omg! I remember all that.
That whole thing is so sad. Killed in the parking lot if I recall correctly. I couldn’t believe it. Great ball player and person, and always overshadowed by Carew, in both Minny as well as Anaheim, but still stood out.
Cousins dedicated himself to the bit too much. Too much of a jokester/prankster, almost all serious contending teams usually dont need that energy. He needs to be all about winning and nothing else.
Sad reality is that DMC is too good to play in the NBA… but if teams did their homework they would know he is the nicest guy you can have in your locker room, bunch of lazy dudes!
Big 3 for Boog
Thats a load of BS. Pat Bev has a job…..