When the Los Angeles Lakers missed out on Kawhi Leonard in free agency, they had to play from behind to finish filling up the roster. One of the bigger names the team added was DeMarcus Cousins, who has yet to play a game for the purple and gold thanks to injury. Cousins was one of the best players in the NBA for several years before he got bit badly by the injury bug.
It remains to be seen if he can recapture the magic that made him one of the most dominant big men in the world, but the Lakers are more concerned with whether or not he’ll even play this year. Fortunately for the team, head coach Frank Vogel game a promising update during media availability for All-Star weekend.
“He’s on track to get healthy by the playoffs and we’ll have to see where he’s at with rhythm, and conditioning, and timing and all that stuff,” Vogel said. “But there is a possibility he returns this season, yes.”
The Lakers have been holding onto Cousins in hopes that he can still be a factor. While he probably won’t be his dominant self right out the gate, he could still put together some strong performances.
Cousins Return Enough to Get Past Clippers?
The one big advantage the Clippers have over the Lakers right now is how much depth they have. They have one of the deepest rosters in recent memory. If Cousins returns, it’ll help the Lakers, but probably won’t put them over the edge. That said, it could alleviate a potential need to have Anthony Davis play center, which he obviously doesn’t want to do.
If Cousins can turn back the clock and play like he did in 2017, then the Lakers have a good shot at taking out the Clippers in the playoffs. However, it’s more likely that he plays like how he did with the Golden State Warriors last season where he averaged 16.3 points a game. Those kinds of numbers certainly won’t hurt the Lakers, but they may need a little more to topple the Clippers.
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LeBron James Has Message for Kids
With All-Star weekend in full swing, the Lakers players and coaches involved have been making the rounds. LeBron James has made it point throughout his career to be very involved with kids and the community. He had an inspiring message on Saturday.
“You can’t want something but not put in the work. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing in life, no matter what it is. It can be a professional athlete, it can be an artist, it could be a doctor, it could be anything in the world—President of the United States. But you got to put the work in, and I think if you put the work in, results will happen organically,” LeBron said, per Ben Golliver of The Washington Post.
“And most important, you got to find happiness, too. If you’re having fun, enjoying what you’re doing, then it just makes it so much easier. It makes it so much easier to just like—you want to do it every day, because it’s something that you really enjoy doing that you don’t look at it as work.”
Lakers’ LeBron James on message to kids: “You can’t want something and not put in the work. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing: a professional athlete, artist, doctor or President. You’ve got to find happiness too. If you’re enjoying what you do, it makes it so much easier.”
LeBron has done a lot to inspire many and that likely won’t stop once he finishes up his basketball career.
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Lakers’ Frank Vogel Gives Promising DeMarcus Cousins Injury Update