One of the most anticipated basketball returns could be DeMarcus Cousins’ return to the NBA court.
A recent video shows Boogie working out with assistant coaches, Phil Handy and Miles Simon at the Lakers’ practice facility in El Segundo, California.
This is not the first time, he’s been spotted working out. A few days before Christmas, Boogie was seen working out with Handy at Staples Center.
Cousins looked fluid last month. He looks fluid at the end of January.
Could he return in time for the playoffs? On January 3, Lakers head coach, Frank Vogel said that Cousins was cleared for “a little bit of light warmup stuff” by the training staff.
“But that’s just like light jogging and those types of things,” he said.
There is still a long way to go.
”As far as I know he’s still on track. He’s still a possibility to play this year, but I can’t really go into more detail,” Vogel said.
Cousins was a key Lakers acquisition this summer. But, he tore his ACL in his left knee during an offseason workout which then forced the Lakers to sign big man, Dwight Howard to fill the void.
“With DeMarcus [Cousins] going down it definitely hurt,” Anthony Davis told me during the summer.
“But we picked up Dwight and we’ll see how it goes.”
DeMarcus Cousins was the Sacramento Kings fifth pick in the 2010 NBA Draft by way of the University of Kentucky,.
Cousins has career averages of 21.2 points, 10.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.2 blocks per contest.
Cousins had never appeared in the NBA Playoffs until last season.
Last season, Boogie signed with the Golden State Warriors on a one-year, $5.3 million midlevel exception deal. That gave him the opportunity to suit up alongside Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.
He tallied 16.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.3 steals in 30 regular-season games last season.
“I believe everyone on our team has a very high IQ when it comes to the game of basketball,” DeMarcus Cousins told me last summer.
“All of us know how to play the game of basketball.”
The Warriors appeared in the NBA Finals last season and would end up lost to eventual champions, the Toronto Raptors.
Currently sitting at 36-10, the Los Angeles Lakers have championship goals this season with Cousins on a roster that includes LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Danny Green, Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Jared Dudley, Rajon Rondo, Dwight Howard,Avery Bradley JaVale McGee, Quinn Cook, Troy Daniels and Alex Caruso.
The Lakers haven’t played basketball since Saturday in their loss against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center. They will resume play tonight at Staples Center when they face the Carmelo Anthony, Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum-led Portland Trail Blazers.
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Lakers’ DeMarcus Cousins Back On Court at Practice Facility [Video]