Tragic Injury Robs DeMarcus Cousins, and Fans, of Long-Anticipated Playoff Debut

NBA powerhouse DeMarcus Cousins was just weeks away from his first ever start in the NBA All-Star game, and on a golden path to the playoffs, before suffering a season-ending achilles injury.

BY MATT GEORGE

Jan 29, 2018, 12:00 AM Updated: Jan 4, 2019, 11:23 am

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by Matt George – Sports 1140 KHTK

In just three weeks, New Orleans Pelicans superstar big man DeMarcus Cousins was supposed to start for Team LeBron in the 2018 NBA All-Star Game. Not only that, Cousins was enjoying a historic stretch of play, posting numbers not seen since Oscar Robertson, Wilt Chamberlain, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The Pelicans had been playing well, and many were optimistic that Cousins would finally get his chance to play in the postseason.

But then, everything changed in the final seconds of the Pelicans vs Houston Rockets game on Friday.

With just eight seconds left in what was a very entertaining bout between two expected Western Conference playoff teams, Cousins collapsed right in front of the Rockets bench, grabbing at his left heel. His reaction immediately got the attention of the entire Houston bench, who called for immediate medical attention from the Pelicans’ training staff. Cousins was helped off the floor, unable to put any weight on his left leg, while coaches, teammates, and fans were left assuming the worst.

No MRI was necessary to figure out what had happened to Cousins. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski was first to release the report.

Source: An MRI has confirmed diagnosis on DeMarcus Cousins: Torn left Achilles, out for the season.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 27, 2018

Range on recovery for DeMarcus Cousins, league source tells ESPN: 6-to-10 months.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 27, 2018

Currently 6th in the West, the Pelicans are 27-22 on the season, 7-3 over their last 10 games, and are 0-1 since the Cousins injury after a 112-103 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers yesterday. Their next game is tomorrow night in New Orleans against the Sacramento Kings.