A Royal Review: DeMarcus Cousins Skills Challenge Performance
By Rafe Wong
Last night during the All-Star festivities, Kings big man DeMarcus Cousins participated in the NBA Skills Challenge. You read that correctly.
In a contest in the past that has consisted of players who play exclusively the guard position, the NBA decided to revamp the format this year by allowing 4 big men to participate in the contest.
With Cousins, these big men were Karl Anthony-Towns from the Minnesota Timberwolves, Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans, and Draymond Green from the Golden State Warriors.
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With the big men, four guards also participated in the contest as well. These participants were former “Pizza Guy” Isaiah Thomas from the Boston Celtics, Emmanuel Mudiay from the Denver Nuggets, C.J. McCollum from the Portland Trail Blazers, and Jordan Clarkson from the Los Angeles Lakers.
The format for the Skills Challenge was that there were two brackets: the guards and the bigs. The champions to come out of both brackets would face off against each other in the final round to determine the ultimate victor.
For DeMarcus, his first opponent was against Anthony Davis. Cousins started the round on a rocky start by dribbling the ball off his leg but then made his way back where he ultimately won the round by hitting his three-point shot on his second attempt compared to Davis’s third.
Cousins would then advance to the final round of the bigs bracket where he would meet Karl Anthony-Towns. Cousins fell to Anthony-Towns, and then the rookie went on to defeat Isaiah Thomas which many thought was an upset.
Even though Cousins lost to the most current 1st overall draft pick, there was no way he was going to harness his real emotions as he, and the other bigs, jumped on Anthony-Towns to celebrate the rookie’s triumph with glee.
Although Boogie wasn’t able to bring the Skills Challenge crown home to Sacramento, it was still fun to see him represent the Kings franchise in the festivities. Averaging 26.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 3.2 assists a contest, Cousins definitely proved that he has an amazing skillset and deserved to be part of this contest.
Next: A Royal Rookie Report: Willie Cauley-Stein
Boogie’s All-Weekend isn’t over just yet. Cousins will again represent Sacramento tonight, where is due to make his 2nd career appearance in the NBA All-Star game. #SacramentoProud #BoogieProud #KingsProud?