Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins are not only former teammates, but good friends as well. Despite his reputation, Cousins is extremely well-liked among his peers and that includes those who were part of his time with the Los Angeles Lakers last season.
Even though he never suited up due to a torn ACL suffered prior to the season, Cousins was a regular in the practice facility and on the bench during games, almost serving as an extra coach.
But with the Lakers needing to make some signings during the season, the team decided to release Cousins in order to open up a spot to sign Markieff Morris. He of course wound up playing a crucial role for the team on their championship run.
Now after a couple of injury-marred seasons, Cousins is back on the court with the Houston Rockets, and the Lakers faced off with their former teammate for the first time, coming away with a 120-102 win.
The meeting was a contentious one, as Cousins and Morris got into a scuffle, leading to the latter being ejected. Not long after, Cousins himself was thrown out following a Flagrant 2 foul on LeBron James.
But despite the apparent animosity, Davis maintained that all of the Lakers were happy to see Cousins back on the court.
“Everyone — Markieff even said it to him as well — everyone is genuinely happy to see him back on the floor,” Davis said following the win. “He’s a guy who’s a great talent and also a nice guy off the floor. Guys are happy.
“Especially being his teammate last year, and me personally in New Orleans for a couple years, guys are happy to see him back on the floor and playing a game that he loves.”
Davis also downplayed the incident between Cousins and Morris. “I think they squashed it. Those two guys know each other, they’re cool. It was just an emotional play that happened,” he said.
The entire ordeal was an unfortunate one, but it was proof of the energy and focus that was present. The Lakers came out with an entirely different mindset and focus on defense that led them to victory.
And now with a rematch taking place Tuesday, Cousins will be back and looking to perform well against his former team, and the Lakers will still be happy to see him on the floor.
Davis not concerned with Christian Wood comments
Heading into the Rockets game, the focus was actually on their other big man, Christian Wood who said he circled the game against Davis and the Lakers. It led many to wonder if this would rile up Davis, but it was the opposite.
“I just go out there and play basketball. I don’t think it was anything crazy,” Davis said. “I know C. Wood, we played in New Orleans together. He was a guy whose always kind of leaned on me for help in the league.
“I worked with him when I was in New Orleans on some moves and stuff. I didn’t see. I heard about it but didn’t know if it was true or not. I didn’t look at it any type of way.”
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