When the Sacramento Kings were in New Orleans the other night to play the Pelicans, it was billed as a matchup of two titans at the center position. Somehow though, Anthony Davis gets all the praise for taking the steps needed to become a superstar, but DeMarcus Cousins always manages to be left out of the limelight.
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What gives?
Is it because he plays on a bad Kings team? Is people still knocking him for his maturity? Who knows; but what I do know is that Cousins has played at the level where NBA pundits and fans alike need to start looking at him as a legitimate star in this league.
It’s mindboggling at times to see Cousins left out of the conversation of league best players. The NBA has always had this bias against good players on bad teams. Mitch Richmond was one of the greatest scores in NBA history; yet his name is never mentioned often when the conversation of great scorers come up.
Why? Because he played on bad teams for most of his career.
Your team has to get good before you can be recognized as a great player in this league unfortunately, and that is why it why it is imperative that the Kings finally build a winner around Cousins.
Cousins deserves the respect of the league, but if Sacramento continues to languish at the bottom of the Western Conference, than how is he going to get that respect? And then the obvious question must be asked: “Will Cousins bolt town after his contract is up?”
It’s something that we shouldn’t think about right now, but it must be on the back of our minds; because truth be told, Cousins want to be recognized as one of the NBA’s best big men, and he can’t get that respect if he is playing on a bottom feeder.
Cousins is having an MVP season on a sub-par Kings team, and it would make his numbers more worthy if Sacramento was chasing after a playoff spot. His growth has been tremendous, and he is no longer the hot-tempered player that people unfairly still tags him with.
He’s smarter with the basketball, knows where his sweet spots are, and can dominate a game at a moment’s notice. Cousins is the complete package, and it is only fair to him, and Kings fans, for the front office to provide him with a team that he can lead back to respectability.
Then and only then, will Boogie get the just credit rightfully deserves.