Ok, this is the third attempt of doing a blog on Boogie Cousins. My first attempt was to see his recent injury history and go from there. The second attempt was to bring in his former Kentucky teammate and good friend, John Wall, who is dealing with his own injury issues and combine the two. Unfortunately, what has happened recently that has got me to go back to focus on Boogie. An arrest warrant for him after a recording of a man who sounded like Boogie allegedly threatening to kill his ex for not allowing to let his son participate in his wedding. Now that I spent this first paragraph explaining this cluster of a topic that I created, let's go on the fall of a dominant NBA center.

Since coming into the league in 2010, DeMarcus Cousins has been a top 10 player with his god-given ability for being more than a traditional center. Even on a lousy team in Sacramento, Cousins shined above everyone else on the team and Kings fans were backing him at his every move. During his tenure, Boogie would be become an all-star, but he wanted the team to improve around him so they could at least make a push towards the playoffs. But right after the 2017 All-Star break, Boogie was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans for Buddy Hield and a first round pick. The move was done to pair Boogie with another All-Star, Anthony Davis. The Pelicans had high expectations for the AD/Boogie combo heading towards the 2017-2018 season and very high expectations for the team. But halfway through that season, Boogie suffered a ruptured Achilles' tendon that ended his campaign. Here's the funny thing: the Pelicans made the playoffs and swept the heavily favored Portland Trailblazers in the first round, only to succumb to the eventual champion Golden State Warriors. During the off-season, the Pelicans had a tough decision on whether to keep Boogie or not. Due to the injury, they decided to go with former Laker Julius Randle and let Boogie walk. One day later, DeMarcus Cousins signed with the Warriors. In the 2018-2019 campaign, he missed part of the season and playoffs due to recurring injuries in a lost year for him and the Warriors. Boogie signed with the Lakers, hoping to prove to the league that he was capable of landing a long term deal. It also reunited him with AD on a team led by LeBron James with championship aspirations. Then came the torn ACL injury that quickly ended his season even before it began. It was another medical roadblock for a player looking for a chance to return to be one of the top players in the league.

I mean, the injuries have contributed to this fall, but that isn't his doing. The one thing that has been self-inflicted during his career is his lack of control when it comes to his attitude. As a Kings fan, I would look at his stats with amazement as he would fill the stat sheet. I would also look when the Kings and the NBA making an announcement regarding Boogie being suspended and think "What did he do now?" His rap sheet of suspensions due to riffs with coaches, officials, teammates, opponents, media, (etc, etc.) had become a major headache for people following the NBA, because of the fact Boogie had all the talent in the world yet he continues to shoot himself in the foot with his voliate attitude. This incident with his ex (allegedly, of course) may have derailed his comeback with the fact that he has a history of less than stellar interactions leading to him getting suspended or worse.

So, hopefully this is the wake-up call that Boogie needs to calm down or it could be his downfall.

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