DeMarcus Cousins

DeMarcus Amir Cousins or ‘Boogie’ is an American professional basketball player who plays as a center. Currently a free agent, he last played in the NBA for the LA Clippers as a backup center. But this was far from what was expected from the 6’11 big man out of Kentucky. He was the best center in the league for almost half the decade and pioneered the role of the “modern center”. He could handle the ball like a guard, was unstoppable in the post, and also developed a perimeter. An achilles rupture, a torn quadricep, and an ACL tear derailed his career to the point where he isn’t even on an NBA Roster for the upcoming season.

Early Life

Boogie Cousins was born on August 13, 1990 in Mobile, Alabama. He attended LeFlore Magnet High School where he became one of the best players of the highschool class of 2009. Following John Calipari’s departure from Memphis University to coach the Kentucky Wildcats, Cousins decommitted from the Memphis Tigers and followed Calipari to Kentucky. Alongside John Wall, the Wildcats and Boogie reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. After the season concluded, he declared for the 2010 NBA Draft.

NBA Journey

The Sacramento Kings selected DeMarcus Cousins with the fifth overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft. His rookie season was a decent one. He averaged 14.1 points to go with 8.6 rebounds. His performances earned him an NBA All-Rookie First Team selection.

Over the next few seasons, his production would increase steadily. Although his production was steady, he was known to be an emotional person which got him into trouble on and off the court.

During the 2014-2015 NBA Season, he would earn his first all-star and All-NBA team selections which marked the beginning of his reign as the best center in the league. His footwork was nimble and helped him terrorize his defenders in the post. His post game accompanied his decent shooting which made him a problem for many team’s defensive schemes.

Right after the 2017 NBA All-Star Game, The Sacramento Kings traded Boogie to the New Orleans Pelicans to team up with fellow former Wildcat, Anthony Davis. The front court pairing of Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins was one the best in the league. The pair would go on to dominate, with Boogie earning his fourth consecutive NBA All-Star Team selection. Unfortunately, he ruptured his achilles tendon which ruled him out for the season. The duo that was supposed to dominate the league for the rest of the 2010s broke up.

At the end of the season, he was not offered a max contract as projected at the beginning of the season due to his injury which led him to sign a one year deal with the Golden State Warriors for the 2018-2019 NBA Season. He wouldn’t play for them until January 2019 and could only remain healthy for a few months before tearing his left quad.

For the 2019-2020 season, he signed with the LA Lakers but tore his ACL in an offseason game and was waived without playing a single game. The following season, he reunited with his former college teammate, John Wall. With the Rockets he would play 25 games before getting waived. He finished off the season playing for the LA Clippers. He has yet to be signed by an NBA Team for the 2021-2022 Season.

With the USA Men’s Basketball Team, he would earn two gold medals. One at the 2016 Rio Olympics and the other at the 2014 FIBA World Cup.

NBA Accolades

Net Worth

DeMarcus Cousins has amassed a net worth of $37 million. During the 2020-2021 NBA Season, he earned a total of $2,986,355 from his multiple contracts with the Clippers and Rockets. He has earned a total of $92,535,341 in his 11 years in the league. He has an endorsement deal with Puma.

Family

DeMarcus Cousins was born in Mobile, Alabama to Monique and Jessie Cousins. He has four sisters and one brother. In 2019, he married his longtime girlfriend, Morgan Lang. The couple has two children: Amir Cousins and Vana Cousins.