On Wednesday, former four-time All-Star and two All-NBA big man DeMarcus Cousins joined his former teammate Draymond Green on the Golden State Warriors famous podcast, "The Draymond Green Show."
Before he joined the Warriors, Cousins spent 6.5 seasons with our Kings – where he had his most productive years as a professional athlete. And during their podcast, he shared an interaction he had with his former mentor, Francisco Garcia (who spent 7.5 years with Sacramento), that really illustrates how far we've come as an organization.
"I remember, during my rookie season, there was this one task. I don't even remember what it was, but it was something simple," Cousins recalled to Green. " at Kentucky...I never did anything like that. Then, I came to the Kings, and in my mind, it was a step higher. Do you know what I mean?"
Anyway, Cousins mentioned this occurrence to Garcia (his assigned "vet" at the time), and Garcia responded by telling him that he was merely spoiled in college at a Blue Blood program like Kentucky. At the time, the Kings were the only NBA organization Garcia had ever known.
However, a few years later, Garcia was traded to the Houston Rockets, and the next time he saw Cousins, he made sure to correct himself.
"I remember the day I called you spoiled," Garcia told Cousins. "I was wrong."
Cousins later went on to say that the Kings organization was a "s--- hole" when he was there and that it took Garcia going to a different environment to realize what a functional organization looked like.
DeMarcus Cousins spoke on his time in Sacramento on the Draymond Green Show.
— Brenden Nunes (@BrendenNunesNBA) August 20, 2024
He tells a story about Francisco Garcia, his vet, changing his perspective on the franchise after being traded.
Lots of good stuff in here. I thought it was an honest and insightful convo. pic.twitter.com/RnbF55VEBn
To be fair, if you listen to the entire clip linked above, Cousins also blames himself for a lot of what went wrong during his time with the Kings. But it was still pretty cool reminiscing back on that time knowing how much everything has changed.
The Kings Are A Good Organization
The Kings of the last two years are not the same team that Cousins wasted away at for over half a decade. The team has averaged 47 wins per season in the two full years that Domantas Sabonis and De'Aaron Fox have been able to play together.
Nowadays, the Kings have become such a desirable location that one of the most respected players in the league (DeMar DeRozan) chose to willingly come to them this past offseason (remember, in sign-and-trades, the player has to agree to the trade for it to go through).
It is worth mentioning that the six-time All-Star and three-time All-NBA forward chose Sacramento despite big market teams like the Los Angeles Clippers and Miami Heat expressing interest in them.
Along with DeRozan willingly coming to Sacramento, the reigning Sixth Man of the Year (6MOY) runner-up, Malik Monk (one of the best combo guards in basketball), took a significant pay cut just to stay with the Kings.
When Cousins said that Sacramento was a s---- hole, as harsh of a statement as that was to say, it was probably true. But now, that take no longer holds any water, as they are one of the better organizations in the association.