DeMarcus Cousins is in his fifth season with the Kings, but despite putting up numbers that may have warranted it, he’s never been selected to an All-Star team.
Part of that, of course, is on Cousins himself.
The petulant attitude he’s consistently displayed to this point in his career hasn’t exactly endeared him to the fans, who are responsible for voting in the starters. And similarly, the coaches aren’t going to reward that type of behavior by voting him in as a reserve, no matter how much his game may deserve the honor when viewing it by itself.
Cousins has cut down on the negative, non-basketball antics significantly this season, even though they may have crept back up just recently. His game has improved enough to where he’s likely to be strongly considered by the coaches this season, even if he appears to be taking an apathetic approach to whether or not he appears in the midseason exhibition.
From Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee:“DeMarcus is a great player in this league,” Kings head coach Tyrone Corbin said. “He certainly has demonstrated, in my opinion, he deserves to be considered one of the best big men in the league.”
Cousins entered the game averaging 23.8 points and 12.3 rebounds. He’d be in the top five in the league in both categories if he hadn’t missed 11 games because of illness. ...
“To be totally honest, it is what it is,” Cousins said. “If I make it, I make it. If I don’t, I don’t.”
Last season’s West All-Star roster had a total of seven frontcourt players. If we once again go that deep this year, there will be four reserves chosen from a group that includes Kevin Durant, Dwight Howard, LaMarcus Aldridge, Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki, and of course, Cousins.
The coaches have some difficult decisions to make in the very crowded Western Conference when voting in their All-Star reserves. Cousins may very well make it -- but it’s going to be extremely close.
