DeMarcus Cousins might be the unluckiest player in the NBA. After eight seasons on two of the NBA’s most cursed franchises, Boogie’s first-ever playoff run is almost certainly over after 25 minutes and 11 points, as the Warriors announced Tuesday that Cousins has a torn left quadriceps.
The Warriors are holding out hope that he can play again in a few weeks, though that sounds extremely unlikely.
Just minutes into Game 2 last night, Cousins went down awkwardly while pursuing a steal. He immediately grabbed his left leg and was shuttled off the floor to the locker room, where he had to watch as his teammates crapped all over themselves and surrendered the greatest playoff comeback in NBA Playoffs history. Cousins will be replaced by rickety grouch Andrew Bogut and the relatively limited Kevon Looney, who at least had the game of his career last night off the bench.
The timing of Cousins’s devastating injury could not possibly have been worse. Boogie has waited for the playoffs for almost a decade, winning an Olympic gold medal, earning four all-star appearances, and making two all-NBA teams before playing in the postseason. He endured seven dramatic seasons in Sacramento that were “below average” at best and “a hilarious disaster” at worst, before getting the rug pulled out from under him and winding up in New Orleans. Cousins then played the best basketball of his career alongside Anthony Davis for exactly half a season until he tore his left Achilles tendon and had to watch the Pelicans’ thrilling sweep of Portland in a suit on the bench.
Boogie signed a tiny deal with the Warriors last offseason under the assumption that he’d get a chance to show out in the playoffs and lock down a larger contract after winning his first title. Now, he’s endured two nasty injuries on his left side, which will make teams more hesitant to give him a huge payday this summer. That sucks, and it is now the Warriors’ sacred duty to win a championship for him.