DeMarcus Cousins was impressive as a bench piece for the Denver Nuggets at the tail end of last season, but remains unsigned so far this year.
The four-time All-Star is only 32, but has a lengthy injury history and a reputation as being difficult to manage. Those are probably the two primary reasons why Cousins is having a hard time getting back into the NBA, but the big man wanted to get some additional feedback from his former general manager Bob Myers of the Warriors.
“DeMarcus called me a month ago and he said, ‘Why am I not in the NBA?’ ” Myers told Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson on the “All The Smoke” podcast earlier this week. “And I said, ‘You want that answer? … Because people are afraid of how you’re going to act.’ And he’s like ‘Why?’ And I said, ‘Well whatever the reason is, it’s here now.’
“And I like DeMarcus. You guys may know him. He’s just, I can’t blame him for him because of all he’s been through.”
In addition to his volatility on the court, Cousins was involved in an off-the-court issue in 2019, when his ex-girlfriend and mother of their child alleged that Cousins threatened to shoot her during an argument. Though TMZ published audio recordings that alleged to include Cousins making the threats, the charges were ultimately dropped.
Still, the incident added to a list of reasons why teams might not be interested in giving the big man another chance.
“I said here’s the issue, you have to act better,” Myers continued. “To get back, you can’t just be average. You have to convince people. And that’s not really fair, but that’s just what it is.”
Cousins hasn’t started more than 50 games since 2016-17, but showed over the last few years that he can be an effective second-string center.