Getty Images Former Lakers center Dwight Howard has signed on to play in Taiwan.
Two former members of Los Angeles Lakers will join their ex-teammate Dwight Howard to compete in the biggest basketball tournament on the Asian continent next month.
Shams Charania of The Athletic has reported that currently non-active NBA players DeMarcus Cousins and Quinn Cook are headed to Taiwan to join Howard, who has established himself as a prominent figure in the Taiwan League.
2020 Lakers reunion: DeMarcus Cousins, Dwight Howard and Quinn Cook will play together on the Taiwan Mustags in the Asian Tournament in July, sources say. Howard serves as a player and part-owner of the Taiwan league.
“2020 Lakers reunion: DeMarcus Cousins, Dwight Howard and Quinn Cook will play together on the Taiwan Mustangs in the Asian Tournament in July, sources say,” Charania posted to X on Tuesday, June 18. “Howard serves as a player and part-owner of the Taiwan League.”
DeMarcus Cousins Played Stint in Taiwan in 2024 After Retiring from NBA
GettyLeBron James, DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis.
Cousins officially retired from the NBA in February 2024, which he made clear while speaking with USA Today’s Hoops Hype.
“I know I’ve had my time there,” Cousins said. “There was a point where I was trying to make that happen, but the place I’m in my life now, just with everything I’ve got going on just outside of basketball, like I’m in a good place. So, like I said, I’m excited for what I have ahead and my future. You know, my 12 years in the league were a small chapter or chapters in my life, and I’m ready to move on to the next and see what’s in store for me.”
Cousins last played in the NBA two years ago as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks and Denver Nuggets during the 2021-22 campaign. Cousins joined the Lakers for the 2019-20 season, reuniting with former New Orleans Pelicans teammate Anthony Davis.
However, Cousins tore his ACL and sat out the entire COVID-interrupted campaign. Los Angeles went on to win the title in “the bubble” that season, which earned Cousins a championship ring. For his career, Cousins averaged 19.6 points, 10.2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.1 blocks across 654 career games that included 561 starts.
Cousins is not entirely unfamiliar with basketball in Taiwan either, as he played for the Taiwan Beer Leopards in 2024 following a stint in Puerto Rico in 2023.
“My time in Taiwan was incredible. I met some really, really nice and genuine people, and that’s a rare thing given the times we live in now,” Cousins told Hoops Hype. “Just the culture, the way they carry themselves, the hospitality. … This game has taken me all over the world. I’m really blessed.”
Quinn Cook Takes Multiple NBA Championship Rings With Him to Taiwan
GettyQuinn Cook, formerly of the Los Angeles Lakers, defending Dante Exum, formerly of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
As for Cook, he last played in the Association during the 2020-21 season as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Cook was also a member of the 2019-20 Lakers championship team, appearing in 44 regular season games. He averaged 5.1 points, 1.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists that year.
He appeared in 16 games for the Lakers the next season before L.A. traded him to Cleveland, where the point guard made the final seven appearances of NBA career.
Beyond the title he won in Los Angeles, Cook also won a championship ring as a member of the Golden State Warriors following the 2017-18 campaign.