Cousins on Sacramento: “I did more for them than they did for me.”
Apr 18, 2022, 12:49 PM | Updated: 12:49 pm
(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
If you have watched the Sacramento Kings over the past 16 seasons, there isn’t a player that is more polarizing than DeMarcus Cousins.
The former Kings center was known for his All-Star numbers and animated personality while donning the purple and black during the 2010-2017 seasons, posting 20-10 double-doubles on a nightly basis while racking up a bevy of technical fouls (143 career T’s) on the side.
Although it’s been over five years since then-Kings general manager Vlade Divac traded the big man to the New Orleans Pelicans, Cousins still has a lot to say about his former team–and a lot of hard feelings.
Marc J. Spears of Andscape released an interview with Cousins on Monday afternoon that went in-depth on the 31-year-old’s career that dove into the center’s time in Sacramento and much more.
Cousins, who now plays for the Denver Nuggets under former Kings head coach Michael Malone, still has strong feelings for the franchise after they fired Malone during the 2014-15 season.
After Sacramento jumped out to an impressive 5-1 start to the season, Cousins was sidelined for 10 games due to a scary bout with viral meningitis. During the center’s absence, the Kings went 2-8, resulting in Malone being fired just 24 games into the season with a record of 11-13.
I thought they were insane, and it shows. You don’t even really have to speak on it, because what I knew then about Mike, I knew he would soar. He went to the next place and has been nothing but successful. When he was with us [in Sacramento], he was successful. Still doesn’t make sense and it never will. Everything else that happened to Sac should have never happened. That guy should have never been fired. The rest of what happened in Sac would have never happened if they let him go.
DeMarcus Cousins on Sacramento firing then-head coach Michael Malone during the 2014-15 season (Spears, Andscape 4/18/22)
Cousins went even further to scathe the Kings organization, claiming that if he could go back and change anything about his career, he would have skipped his pre-draft workout with Sacramento back in 2010.
What did Sac do for me? Besides say my name [draft day]. I did more for them than they did for me. That’s just being honest. Just being 100% honest. I had two owners, three GMs, seven coaches in seven years. I was there seven years. I had three GMs, two owners and seven coaches. Not much more needs to be said.
DeMarcus Cousins on the Sacramento Kings (Spears, Andscape 4/18/22)
It’s understandable to hear Cousins’ frustration when he looks back on his time with the Kings.
Not only was the former number-five pick the team’s star player, but he was also really one of the only entertaining aspects of a team that struggled to win 30 games for each of his seven seasons in Sacramento.
Was Cousins’ attitude on the court excusable because of how talented he was? No. I think we all know that by now.
The numbers were there, though, and they were beyond impressive:
DeMarcus Cousins’ career numbers in Sacramento
- 21.1 PTS
- 10.8 REB
- 3.0 AST
- 1.4 STL
- 1.2 BLK
- 46% FG
- 32% 3PT
- 73% FT
- 31.9 MIN
“I put the time and work in. I hold many records there,” Cousins told Spears when asked if he thinks his number 15 jersey should be retired into the Golden 1 Center rafters. “I honestly think I’m the best player to ever come through Sacramento. And I stand on that, absolutely.”
Injuries have completely derailed Cousins’ career over the years. Shortly before the Kings traded the center to the Pelicans, there were reports that Sacramento was weighing offering Cousins a max-extension worth $209 million over five years.
Instead of inking a long-term deal with the Kings, Divac and the rest of the organization decided that a change was needed and dealt Cousins to New Orleans during the 2017 NBA All-Star game.
Over the next three seasons, Cousins suffered an assortment of lower-body injuries that affected his mobility on the floor: torn Achilles, torn quad, and torn ACL.
Since the beginning of the 2018-19 season, Cousins has only appeared in 119 games for the Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers, Milwaukee Bucks, and Denver Nuggets.
Cousins has acted as Denver’s backup center to form a solid starter-bench tandem with last year’s–and likely this season’s–Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic.
You can read the entirety of Cousins’ interview with Spears here, as the center goes on to discuss Vlade Divac’s admission into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame, his road back to the NBA following his injuries, and more.
