It's over! Goodbye, NBA's No. 1 center
On February 24, Beijing time, Cousins was interviewed by reporter Cyro Asseo. Cousins admits that his NBA career is over. "Honestly, I wouldn't think about going back to the NBA again," Cousins said. There was a time when I was trying to get back into the league. But I'm about to start the next chapter now......"
Although his NBA career is over, Cousins should still play "day jobs" and play in some semi-professional or amateur leagues, after all, he still has to make money. In January of this year, Cousins played 5 games in the Taiwan T1 League (4 official games + 1 warm-up game) and earned $250,000. Unfortunately, he was not signed until the end of the season.
In the first four official games, Cousins averaged 22 points, 11.8 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 2 steals and 1.2 blocks per game, shooting 50%, 36% and 73.1% from three. In the last warm-up game, he only played the first half and got 10 points and 5 rebounds. Cousins didn't show absolute dominance, and the Clouded Leopards had only about 5,000 attendance.
In November, Cousins came to Chinese mainland to participate in business events and streetball competitions, and he reportedly earned 1 million yuan in 10 days. Cousins was approached by a CBA team, but his asking price was too high to be negotiated. Cousins' athletic form is declining, and there are injury concerns, and his temper is difficult to control, and the CBA team is reluctant to pay a high price.
Cousins was born on August 13, 1990, under the age of 34, and he officially left the NBA in the summer of 2022. At that time, the Nuggets gave Jordan Jr. a contract and did not re-sign Cousins, and the team was worried that he would affect the stability of the locker room. In the final season of the NBA (2021-22), Cousins averaged 9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.
Also in the 2021-22 season, Jordan Jr. averaged only 4.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. Jordan Jr.'s data is not as good as Cousins, 2 years older than Cousins, but he has a good interpersonal relationship and just doesn't worry about his family. Some fans compare Jordan Jr. to Rivers Sr., they play the world clearly in the NBA, but Cousins can't do that.
In 12 seasons in his NBA career, Cousins has only had three seasons with fewer than 10 technical fouls. Cousins' bad temper isn't a day or two, and in his sophomore year of high school, he led his team to the Final Four in Alabama, but he was sent off for consecutive technical fouls. Entering the University of Kentucky, he also quarreled with NCAA coach Calypari.
In the 2010 draft, the Kings selected Cousins with the fifth pick in the first round, and he was supposed to be the cornerstone of the team. At the start of the 2015-16 season, Cousins yelled at Kings coach George Carr in the locker room. In April 2016, the Kings fired George Carr, and in February 2017, the Kings traded Cousins to the Pelicans.
Many fans ridiculed that Cousins was the strongest center "under the head". By the time he arrived at the Pelicans, Cousins' temper had subdued a bit. In the 2017-18 season, Cousins averaged 25.2 points, 12.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.6 blocks per game while shooting 47%, 35.4% and 74.6% from three. He has cut 40+20 many times, a proper top center!
Cousins suffered a torn Achilles tendon in his left foot in January 2018 and was out for the season at the age of 27. That injury changed Cousins' NBA career. Over the next four seasons, he changed six teams, going from the league's No. 1 center to a vagabond. Cousins' total career salary is about $95 million, which is not as good as his current contract.
Throughout his NBA career, Cousins played in 709 regular season games, 616 of which were starts. He averaged 20.2 points, 10.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.2 blocks per game while shooting 45.9%, 33.5% and 74.1% from three. Finally, what do you think of Cousins' NBA career?