demarcus cousins

Pelicans.com

Age: 27
NBA experience: Eight seasons (two with Pelicans)
Games played/started: 48/48

SEASON OVERVIEW
The social-media posts documenting his recovery from an Achilles injury have been hashtagged “#TheResurgence” or “#0Doubt,” the latter partly a reference to his New Orleans uniform number. Cousins’ second season with the Pelicans may be best described as “unfinished business.”

When the 6-foot-11, four-time All-Star fell to the floor during the final seconds of an impressive New Orleans win over Houston on Jan. 26, it immediately meant an end to his hopes of appearing in the NBA playoffs for the first time in his career. Instead, he was forced to spend the rest of the season beginning his rehabilitation from an injury that has a multi-month timetable and has recently struck players such as Kobe Bryant, Rudy Gay and Wesley Matthews. Cousins now heads into unrestricted free agency at midnight July 1.

How would New Orleans have fared over the final 34 games of the regular season if Cousins had remained in uniform? Would the Pelicans have continued to play at the same high level that saw them win seven of the last eight games Cousins played? What kind of matchup problems would Cousins and All-Star tag-team partner Anthony Davis have posed for the Pelicans’ rivals in the Western Conference? Cousins’ injury left New Orleans with a slew of questions that were forced to be left unanswered.

As part of our look back at the season, we checked in with Pelicans fans to get their feedback on 2017-18. Third in the series: What have you learned most about Cousins in the 65 games he’s played here since arriving in the Crescent City? Some of the responses were mentioned in the podcast portion of this season review, but here are a few others:

New Orleans’ roster has generally been comprised of quieter, more laidback personalities in the recent past, both on and off the court. You always know Cousins is on the floor.

The NBA in general is moving away from back-to-the-basket, low-post offensive play, in favor of more three-point shooting and spacing the floor. Cousins individually has gone in the same direction, as is the case for many of the league’s new breed of ultra-skilled bigs. As recently as three seasons ago, he fired eight three-pointers for an entire season; Cousins took nine or more trey attempts in eight separate games during ’17-18.

Cousins has rare passing skills for a player of his size. He dished out seven assists in 14 different games this season, with New Orleans going 9-5 in those instances, including wins over Houston and Cleveland.

2017-18-pelicans-season-in-review-demarcus-cousins

2017-18 Pelicans Season in Review: DeMarcus Cousins

top-50-demarcus-cousins-photos-from-the-pelicans-2017-18-season

Top 50 DeMarcus Cousins Photos from the Pelicans 2017-18 Season

NEW ORLEANS – The NBA announced today that Pelicans forward DeMarcus Cousins has been named as a finalist for the Seasonlong NBA Cares Community Assist Award, presented by Kaiser Permanente, in recognition of his strong commitment and positive impact in the New Orleans community and beyond during the 2017-18 NBA season.

In October 2017, Cousins received the inaugural Offseason NBA Cares Community Assist Award for his numerous community efforts in Alabama, New Orleans, Sacramento and South Africa.

Since entering the NBA in 2010, Cousins has made it a priority to be positively impactful to less privileged youth. During the 2017 off-season, Cousins hosted two free basketball camps, in Sacramento, Calif., and Birmingham, Ala., which were attended by hundreds of children, and hosted two neighborhood block parties in Sacramento and Mobile, Ala. This past August, Cousins participated in NBA Africa Game 2017 and Basketball Without Borders, where he visited orphaned youth at SOS Children’s Village and helped host a Jr. NBA Special Olympics Unified Basketball Clinic for local athletes.

Once the season began, Cousins focused on his new home in New Orleans. At the start of the 2017-18 season, Cousins donated $75,000 worth of tickets to various charitable organizations in the greater-New Orleans area, allowing 7,000 underprivileged youth to attend a Pelicans game. During the holiday season, Cousins went to the 9th Ward in New Orleans and provided turkeys and fixings to 150 families for Thanksgiving, and for Christmas, took 100 underprivileged local children on a shopping spree at Target, providing each with $200 to spend. On January 27, Cousins hosted his second annual “Boogie’s Comedy Slam” at the Saenger Theater with 100-percent of the proceeds going to local charities and non-profits.

Although he was sidelined at NBA All-Star Weekend due to injury, it did not stop Cousins from getting involved. On February 15, he participated in NBA Voices, an event where the NBA and NBPA collaborated with Brotherhood Crusade and the Los Angeles Police Department to host a community conversation at a local middle school that focused on strengthening the ties between law enforcement and the local community.

Fan voting for the 2017-18 Seasonlong NBA Cares Community Assist Award presented by Kaiser Permanente will begin on social media today at 11 a.m. CT and conclude on Sunday, May 6 at 10:59 p.m. CT. Chosen by fans and an NBA executive panel, the seasonlong winner will be announced at the 2018 NBA Awards presented by Kia, on Monday, June 25 (8 p.m. CT, TNT) from historic Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif.

Fans can vote for their favorite seasonlong award nominee via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using #NBACommunityAssist and #PlayerFirstNameLastName (e.g., #DeMarcusCousins). The NBA and Kaiser Permanente will donate $25,000 to the winner’s charity of choice.

The 10 nominees include the offseason winner, six monthly winners and three additional players selected by the NBA for their exceptional community work. The NBA Cares Community Assist Award, presented by Kaiser Permanente, recognizes an NBA player each month who best reflects the passion that the league and its players share for giving back to their communities.

NomineeTeamDeMarcus CousinsNew Orleans PelicansJ.J. BareaDallas MavericksRicky RubioUtah JazzLeBron JamesCleveland CavaliersKevin DurantGolden State WarriorsCJ McCollumPorland Trail BlazersDwyane WadeMiami HEATMike ConleyMemphis GrizzliesJabari ParkerMilwaukee BucksKemba WalkerCharlotte Hornets

pelicans-demarcus-cousins-nominated-for-seasonlong-nba-community-assist-award

Pelicans DeMarcus Cousins nominated for Seasonlong NBA Community Assist Award

nba-all-star-2018-anthony-davis-in-action

NBA All-Star 2018: Anthony Davis in Action

nopcgonzalez

New Orleans Pelicans star forward Anthony Davis wore No. 0 at the beginning of Sunday's NBA All-Star Game in Los Angeles in tribute to his injured teammate, DeMarcus Cousins.

Cousins was supposed to be starting alongside Davis on Team LeBron but had to miss the game after rupturing his Achilles' tendon last month.

“I just wanted to go out there and support him," Davis said after the game. "I know he wanted to play so I wanted to kind of make that come true and pay my respects to him.”

Davis switched back to his regular No. 23 later in the All-Star Game. Davis said it was the actual jersey Cousins was supposed to wear. "It was a little big," Davis said.

Cousins took to social media to thank Davis for the gesture.

anthony-davis-wears-no-0-to-start-all-star-game-in-tribute-to-pelicans-teammate-demarcus-cousins

Anthony Davis wears No. 0 to start All-Star Game in tribute to Pelicans teammate DeMarcus Cousins

nba-all-star-2018-cousins-greets-fans-at-autograph-appearance

NBA All-Star 2018: Cousins greets fans at autograph appearance

nbaplatformservices

Pelicans vs Lakers Postgame: Jrue Holiday 02-14-18

pelicans-vs-lakers-postgame-jrue-holiday-02-14-18

Pelicans vs Lakers Postgame: Emeka Okafor 02-14-18

pelicans-vs-lakers-postgame-emeka-okafor-02-14-18

none

Presented By

Chevron

<a title="Pelicans Livestreams" href="https://www.nba.com/pelicans/live" target="_blank">LIVE: Pelicans vs. Kings Play-In Postgame with Willie Green, Pelicans players | WATCH &gt;&gt;</a>