top of page
Jibreel O'Bannon

NBA: Cousins Out For the Year


The New Orleans Pelicans will be without their star big man DeMarcus Cousins for the remainder of the season with a torn left Achilles tendon. The non-contact injury was sustained during the last 10 seconds of a 115-113 home win against the Houston Rockets while Cousins was attempting to rebound his own miss from the free-throw line. The ball was traveling towards Trevor Ariza for a clean rebound before Cousins knocked the ball out his hands accidentally overexerting himself to keep the possession alive. He hobbled on his right leg a few times before immediately collapsing after he tried to put pressure on his injured left foot.


Teammates attended to the ailing center before helping him off the court in which he was rushed to get an immediate MRI. The injury comes at the worst possible time with the Pelicans beginning to gel having won their last eight out of 10 games, including their win against Houston. Cousins posted his second triple-double in three nights with the first entering in historic territory by posting 44 points, 23 rebounds, and 10 assists in double-overtime win against the Chicago Bulls. The last player to put up such numbers was the great Kareem Abdul-Jabarr in 1972.


Boogie is only one of five players in NBA history to put up a triple-double of at least 40-20-10. Statistically, Cousins was having one of the best seasons of his career averaging 25.4 points, 12.9 rebounds (career high) and 5.2 assists (career high). Those MVP-esque numbers may had also finally propelled him into the postseason where the Pelicans and Sacramento Kings especially, failed to do so during his young eight-year career. The All-Star starter was playing like a man determined to remain the best big in the league and to get his team to the playoffs, despite frequent injuries to his running mate, Anthony Davis.


With successful surgery and adequate therapy it is very possible for Cousins to return within six months, which should give him more than enough time to be fully healed for training camp. Cousins is set to be a free agent at the end of season and it will be interesting to see what the Pelicans front office will do to keep the talented big man in the Big Easy. Cousins helped the Pelicans climb to the sixth seed in the West with a record of 27-21 in which he and Davis were both named All-Stars. Losing Cousins will definitely be significant, but the Pelicans will have to find ways to win games if the goal is to still make the playoffs.


Photo Credit: The Hoop Doctors.

Recent Posts
bottom of page