The NBA’s elite are beginning to put some serious respeck on DeMarcus Cousins’ name.
Ahead of Sacramento’s game against Cleveland on Friday, Cavs forward LeBron James heaped the praise on his fellow Olympic gold medalist.
“It starts with the head of the snake and that’s big Cuz. He’s the best big man in our game,” James said, per James Ham of CSN California. “His ability to not only play in the interior, but he handles the ball extremely well, he’s shooting the three, gets his guys involved at times too.”
James’ comments, which closely mirror what Draymond Green said about Cousins earlier this week, hit the nail right on the head. Not only does Cousins have the size and the physicality to bully his way into buckets and boards down low, but he’s also developed his game to the point that he can now beat you in a variety of different ways. This season especially, Cousins has proven that he can burn you from beyond the arc (38.4 percent from deep, third-best amongst qualified centers), stir up offense for teammates from the post (a career-high 3.9 assists per game, tied for fourth-most within the same group), and get to the line at an elite rate (9.5 free throw attempts per game, tied for first within that same group).
Cousins may still be lagging far behind a certain Georgian center in terms of Western Conference All-Star voting, but it definitely looks like he’s earned the respect of his peers, if nothing else.
H/T theScore
*Stats courtesy of ESPN*
