Cousins’ latest injury jolts the NBA
Somewhere in the land of forlorn, DeMarcus Cousins studies his left leg. It’s a symbol of inconceivable misfortune, unprecedented in NBA history. He thought he had passed the requisite tests of his will power, but now comes another long rehab — enough to make a man think about retirement.
There are no indications Cousins will give up the game, even though he’ll turn 30 next August, about the time of his recovery from surgery to repair a torn ACL. More to the point is the shock felt around the league, best expressed by former Warriors teammate
Draymond Green, who told The Undefeated in Las Vegas, “I’m at a loss for words.”
This latest injury completes the triple crown of devastation for that left leg: first the ruptured Achilles tendon, then the torn quad and now the knee, all within a 19month period. The ACL and Achilles injuries are considered two of the worst an athlete has to overcome, and as ESPN reported, no NBA player has ever successfully dealt with both. Perhaps Klay Thompson, who has been raving about Cousins’ contributions to the Warriors, can share a few ACLrehab tips.
We’ll be seeing a lot of the Lakers in October — four of Golden State’s five exhibition games, two of them at Chase Center — and they’ll have found some sort of solution by then. It’s not likely to scare Golden State or any other team. The list of available veteran centers includes Kenneth Faried, Joakim Noah, Amir Johnson and Marcin Gortat, and the Lakers don’t feel comfortable starting JaVale McGee, better employed as an energy source than a mainstay. Things would be a bit easier if Anthony Davis felt comfortable playing center (he much prefers power forward), because he’s a natural there. Aside from his endless variety of shots, both inside and deep, he’d be a tremendous backtothebasket option (remember those days?) for teammates simply asked to get him the ball.
In any case, the Lakers will be a fascinating study with Davis, LeBron James, Kyle Kuzma, Jason Kidd on the bench (an assistant coach known to undermine his way into head jobs) and Frank
Vogel in that seat for real. All that and Quinn Cook, too.
A shot for the ages
In baseball’s age of statistical analysis, we’re relentlessly bombarded with “miles per hour” — on a pitch, on a throw, on a homer into the seats. Just for the moment, let’s forget launch angle, exit velocity and any other numerical data and simply watch: specifically, Bryce Harper’s walkoff grand slam against exGiants pitcher Derek Holland in the PhilliesCubs game Thursday night. Harper is a modernday
Reggie Jackson, compelling and charismatic and capable of titanic deeds that linger in the memory. You can’t take your eyes off him. Aside from the magnificent timing, this home run sailed toward the galaxy, lending the brief impression it would not come down. Harper paused to witness its ascent, then raced around the bases as a stadium was left in awe. If he and the Phillies wind up in the postseason, there would be no complaint here . ... Phillies announcer John Kruk as Harper’s ball took flight: “Oh my God!” And how refreshing, in this season of the juiced ball, to see a blast so legitimate among the torrent of embarrassingly cheap homers . ... One nice thing about the A’s and their newfound stability: They don’t have to worry about giving up Josh Don
aldson, having a spectacular season in Atlanta, much too soon (traded to Toronto in 2014 for Franklin Barreto, Kendall Graveman, Brett Lawrie and Sean Nolin). That’s because they have Matt Chapman, about to surpass Nolan Arenado and Manny Machado as the king of third base.
It came to me in a dream. I found myself inside an apparently empty Oracle Arena, reminiscing about the Warriors’ Oakland years, when suddenly some players appeared, looking to enjoy a little pickup action. And this was no ordinary group.
As they chose up sides for some threeonthree, there was Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Bridges and Phil Smith on one side, ready to challenge Nate Thurmond, Charles Johnson
and Derrek Dickey, with Manute Bol looming in the wings.
As play commenced, I could hear the voices of Bill King and Hank Greenwald, the greatest tandem ever to work a Warriors season, doing a bit of pregame analysis. I saw
Franklin Mieuli in his deerstalker cap, chatting with Pete
Newell and Dick Vertlieb.
Mic Gillette, the wondrous trumpet player of the original Tower of Power band, laid out some fanfare.
Eerie, is what it was, and I realized: This was a pickup game of the deceased. So many beloved figures of the Warriors’ East Bay past, all of them gone — just like the team itself. (Chamberlain left well before the Warriors moved to Oakland, but he did play for them at the old Oakland Auditorium on 10th Street, including the night in December 1963 when Baltimore Bullets legend
Gus Johnson became the first NBA player to bring a backboard crashing to the floor.)
I woke up with a jolt, wondering if I’d dropped into the afterlife as a dead man myself. Mildly relieved — this wouldn’t be a bad way to go — I got lost in a thousand memories. It would be an hour or two before I got back to sleep. And I keep thinking: I hope it’s a bestofthree.
This completes latest the injury triple crown of devastation for DeMarcus Cousins’ left leg: ruptured Achilles, torn quad, torn ACL.