DeMarcus Cousins won’t resume NBA career after 11 seasons

DeMarcus Cousins won’t resume NBA career after 11 seasons

DeMarcus Cousins is choosing to effectively retire from the NBA after 11 seasons, he announced Friday in an interview with Cyro Asseo de Choch of Hoopshype. Cousins last appeared in the NBA in 2021-22 with the Denver Nuggets.

“I know I’ve had my time there,” Cousins said. “You know, there was a point where I was trying to make that happen. But the place I’m in my life now, just with everything I’ve got going on, just outside of basketball, like I’m in a good place. So, like I said, I’m excited for what I have ahead and my future. 

“I’m ready to move on to the next and see what’s in store for me.”

Cousins, 33, played with six other teams (outside of Denver) throughout his NBA career: The Sacramento Kings, New Orleans Pelicans, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers and Milwaukee Bucks. As a four-time All-Star, Cousins played 654 career NBA games, starting in 561 of them. He was a two-time All-NBA honoree (both second team) in 2014-15 and 2015-16 with Sacramento and New Orleans.

Over his career, he averaged 19.6 points, 10.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.1 blocks per game, shooting 46.0 percent from the floor, 33.1 percent from deep and 73.7 percent from the free-throw line.

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His four-year peak lasted from 2013-17, posting 25.2 points, 11.7 boards, 3.6 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks on 46.5/34.5/74.8 shooting splits (55.1 true-shooting percentage) before suffering a career-altering achilles injury midway through 2017-18.

After departing from Denver, Cousins joined the Mets de Guaynabo of the Puerto Rico Basketball League, averaging 19.0 points, 9.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.4 blocks on 52.2/42.1/71.2 shooting splits (62.9 TS%). He’s now a part of the Taiwan Beer Leopards in Taiwan’s T1 League, posting 22.0 points, 11.8 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.3 blocks across four January contests.

“Well, the biggest thing is probably the language barrier,” Cousins said when asked about the difference between playing internationally relative to the NBA. “At the end of the day, basketball is like a universal language when it comes to the game where you don’t even have to know the next person. But it just kind of makes it easier. Like it’s hard to explain, but when you’re on the court, it’s kind of easy to understand.

“There’s not much difference. I mean, there are a few tweaks in the rules here and there compared to, you know, maybe the NBA or FIBA leagues, which obviously have different styles of basketball in some leagues. But, at the end of the game, the foundation of the game is the same. So, there aren’t too many or any type of drastic differences.”

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