Sacramento Kings: The Evolution Of DeMarcus Cousins

Attitude

Defense was one of Boogie’s biggest weaknesses his first couple of years in the league, but those flaws were always seen as an area he could improve. What’s been more troubling when assessing his potential has been his attitude and his reputation as a head case.

After playing with Team USA Basketball this past summer, we saw a completely different DeMarcus Cousins to start the season. He was even-tempered, he was making the right pass, he wasn’t constantly making faces at officials and he was leading his team by example.

But then Cousins came down with viral meningitis, head coach Mike Malone was fired and for awhile, it seemed like Boogie would be going back to his old ways as a head case.

I’m not going to sit here and defend Cousins and say that he’s turned over a new leaf. He’s still prone to emotional outbursts, referee-antagonizing and technical fouls on the wrong night. Cousins commits the sixth most turnovers in the league, has problems staying on the floor as the NBA’s third most active hack and his comments about this season being a “complete circus,” though 100 percent honest, aren’t encouraging.

But in the case of DeMarcus Cousins, we need to consider ALL the facts. This is a player who didn’t connect with a single head coach in his first five seasons in the league. When he finally did see eye-to-eye with one in Mike Malone, the front office used Cousins’ viral meningitis as an excuse to send Malone packing at the first opportunity.

Over the last six years, Cousins’ best teammate has been Rudy Gay. No offense to Rudy Gay, but Cousins’ supporting cast has been severely slacking due to a clinic of front office mistakes in the draft and free agency. Any time a player compares playing for a team to a set of trials and tribulation set before him by God, you know the Kings are doing something wrong.

Still, Cousins is having the best season of his career despite playing for a team heading nowhere fast. Karl is a tremendous regular season coach, but the Kings still don’t have the pieces to move toward the playoffs next season, especially in the loaded Western Conference.

What’s more, Boogie’s doing it with a more positive attitude while trying to adjust to his third head coach of the season. After the Kings piled on their fourth win in a row by beating the Suns, Cousins was quick to dial back the enthusiasm despite being in such a good mood:

“It can definitely build confidence, something this team needs,” he said. “We took a lot of hits throughout the season so this could be a positive point for us in the season, but we’ve got to continue to get better. Training camp next season should help too.”

Cousins may still have his fair share of problems with officials, dumb fouls and even worse technical fouls, but he’s no dummy. He knows he’s been in a bad situation in Sacramento for his entire career but is still making the most of it. After wins, Cousins is one of the more infectious presences you’ll find in the NBA. Perhaps his bad attitude has something to do with being in a losing environment for so long?

Comments like these show his focus is still on winning games and not just putting up great numbers on crummy teams:

Winning is the end objective. For Cousins to make his way into the Hall of Fame one day, he needs to start making the playoffs and proving he can lead a competitive team. That’s a tall task given the team’s current personnel, but at least Kings fans can take temporary solace in the fact that their team’s best player is moving closer to becoming a true leader.

“It’s still too soon to say, but I think we’re on the right path,” Cousins said. “So we just need to continue to grow, we can’t let this four-game win streak get in our heads, we’ve just got to continue to try to get better each game.”

Say what you want about his career thus far, but with his extensive skills and a mentality like that, Cousins is on the right track to becoming a bonafide superstar.

Next: NBA: 50 Greatest Players Of All Time

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