December 24, 2016
By Marc Milanian
Santa Claus has given Sacramento Kings fans the best present that they could have asked for, an NBA Playoff berth. Ok, so the Kings are not in the Playoffs just yet, but they would be if NBA postseason started today. The Playoffs don’t start until the end of April 2017, however.
Nevertheless, the Kings are in eighth place in the NBA’s Western Conference. Due in near entirety to their man in the middle, Demarcus Cousins. Cousins is averaging 29.1 points and 10.6 rebounds per game on the season. He is averaging 36 points per game during the Kings’ three game win streak. At 13-17 the Kings would face the team with the NBA’s best record, the Golden State Warriors, if the Playoffs began today.
Cousins has had to deal with his share of off the court adversity as of late. Most notably with the local media in Sacramento. If the Sacramento Bee wanted to help their community their opinion columnists would not be antagonistic in their views towards Cousins.
It’s true that Cuz wears his emotions on his sleeve, but he is also a fierce competitor and detests losing. This is apparent with his body language any loss. Without Cousins the Kings would end up having a worse record than the Philadelphia Sixers. They would not be the doormat of the league, but the ground underneath the doormat.
Cousins carries his team on a nightly basis as consistently as does James Harden or Russell Westbrook. He has not had much help from the rest of his team, and never throws any of them under the bus, especially if they under perform.
Cousins recent 55 point performance along with his stellar play had helped put the Sacramento Kings back on the map of national sports discussion. The State Capitol helped put Sacramento on the map. Demarcus Cousins is helping it stay there.
Marc Milanian blogs for Persian Media outlets and can be reached at ThePersianObserver@Gmail.com
