Sacramento Kings: DeMarcus Cousins And The World Cup Effect
By Adam McGee
USA Basketball clinched the World Cup with a dominant win against Serbia on Sunday, a game in which the Sacramento Kings’ DeMarcus Cousins played his part. Cousins capped off what had been an impressive tournament for him with a strong showing, putting up 11 points, nine rebounds and two blocks in just more than 16 minutes of play.
With the NBA season just around the corner, the inevitable question for Kings fans is what sort of impact this might have on Cousins.
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The reality is there are a number of ways which the entire World Cup experience can help Cousins. Playing under a respected and knowledgable coach like Mike Krzyzewski can only be a positive, as can working closely with some of the best players in the NBA for an extended period. Saying that, there’s also been a lot of talk about Cousins that seems not only inaccurate, but possibly even ignorant.
In the aftermath of a campaign on a global stage where the 24-year-old averaged 9.6 points and 5.6 rebounds in 14 minutes per game, social media has been alight with the question of “Can DeMarcus Cousins Now Step Up In The NBA?”, or “Is Cousins A Star?”. Although in the modern sports world, the majority of fans have become accustomed to such “hot takes,” those asking these questions of Cousins clearly haven’t been paying attention.
Cousins is coming off the back of his best season as a professional, and one in which he posted unquestionably elite numbers.
Cousins averaged 22.7 points per game, ranking him ninth in the NBA in scoring. That placed him ahead of the likes of Paul George, Damian Lillard, Kyrie Irving, Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Paul in terms of scoring output.
With 11.3 rebounds a game, the Alabama native ranked fifth in the league in that category. That was a mark that couldn’t be matched by the likes of Joakim Noah, LaMarcus Aldridge, Anthony Davis and Tim Duncan.
Those numbers are far from the be-all and end-all when it comes to discussing Cousins, yet his game is almost designed in order for him to be an offensive anchor, and with that in mind it’s hard to see how Cousins hasn’t already arrived on the NBA stage.
One of the easiest criticisms of Cousins always seems to target his supposed immaturity, or lack of discipline. It’s true that Cousins led the NBA in terms of technical fouls with a mark of 16 last season, yet on the other hand, Kevin Durant and Blake Griffin matching that mark did little to impact their respective MVP cases.
Sure, Cousins may still be a little immature, he is only 24 after all, yet it is far from a dominant feature of his game. To add to that, in many ways Cousins’ maturity in an NBA perspective has been failed by the team he plays for. In drafting Cousins, the Kings picked up a player with a level of talent they had lacked for many years, yet for the majority of the years since they have failed to surround him with veteran role models, or even stable coaching voices.
As a result, much of the onus has been on Cousins to grow and develop by himself, and his evolution into a vocal leader stands as a testament to him. DeMarcus Cousins is far from perfect, but his talent and performance levels during his time in the NBA speak for themselves.
The NBA has changed, and the microscope in which it’s played under breaks things down in greater detail than it ever has before. Advanced analytics and the experience of watching and judging players through social networks can influence fans in a variety of ways, both positive and negative, yet some things shouldn’t really change in terms of setting a benchmark.
If a 24-year-old comfortably averaging 20 and 10 on a struggling team doesn’t catch your attention, well, that’s your loss.
And, if you’re still waiting on DeMarcus Cousins to “step up” or “arrive,” you’ve clearly been watching something else.