featured-image

Boogie Shines Among Kings All-Stars

Named to his third consecutive All-Star Game, DeMarcus Cousins has joined rare company in Sacramento Kings history. He is now one of just four players to appear in three All-Star Games while donning the purple and black.

Joining history has become the norm for No. 15. Earlier this season, Boogie joined Michael Jordan as the only players in the League’s existence to tally multiple 55-point double-doubles. Cousins also moved past Gary Payton on the all-time 30-point game list with 77, past Vlade Divac for most games played for the Kings and past Stojakovic for points scored in the Sacramento era. Regarded the best big man in the NBA by one of the Association’s best, the history books will surely continue being rewritten.

Averaging a career-high 27.8 points per contest, the All-Star center is tallying better scoring seasons than any of his predecessors did while All-Stars. Totaling each of the players’ first three seasons as Kings All-Stars, Cousins leads in points per game, rebounds per contest, free throw attempts and is tied with Webber for steals.

With four-plus helpers per outing this year, Cousins is on pace with Webber’s assist per contest average in 2000-01. The fifth-highest scorer in the NBA, Cousins boasts a 22.4 career player efficiency rating. This year alone, he’s sporting a PER of 26.6.

It’s the third season in which the Kentucky product has held a PER above 25, with the Sacramento-era Kings never having another player with a season like it. Should the rating hold, Boogie will join the likes of Kobe Bryant, Moses Malone, Tracy McGrady and George Mikan to hold at least three seasons with a PER above 25.

Perhaps most impressively, Cousins and fellow All-Star Russell Westbrook are one of two players in the past 30-plus years to have a 35-percent usage rate, 25-percent assist rate and 15-percent total rebound rate.

One thing is certain: Compared to all-time All-Stars on the Kings or not, Cousins is carving his place in history.


Next Up