It is easy to forget that the Los Angeles Lakers once employed four-time All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins, who was injured after signing in L.A. back in 2019, and was waived after the trade deadline in 2020, just before Covid-19 hit and the NBA’s season went into a blender that ended with the Lakers as champs after a season spent in the Orlando bubble.
But Cousins was there and did get a taste of what life as a Laker can be like. He saw first-hand, he said, the trials that wearing the purple-and-gold can bring, and the way it wore on his teammates, especially, he pointed out, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Kyle Kuzma.
And Cousins recalled that experience when looking at what Lakers star Luka Doncic will be facing now that LeBron James has left town and he is standing as the true face of the franchise going forward. Maybe Southern Californians have a reputation for being laid back, but don’t apply that to Lakers fans, Cousins says.
Lakers Fans ‘Turn on You Quick’
Speaking on the “Road Trippin'” podcast this week (via @PurpGoldLakers), Cousins acknowledged that Doncic is on a much different tier than Kuzma or KCP, but added that he has seen how Lakers faithful can turn on their own if things start to go poorly.
“One thing that I witnessed, and obviously like Luka’s on a way another level than these guys, but I was in LA and I was there with Kyle Kuzma. I was there with KCP. And one thing I did realize is if you have a bad stretch, they turn on you quick,” Cousins said.
“… As far as delivering the ultimate prize, which is championships in LA, that’s their standard. Which is deservingly so. I just feel like if he does come short, I think we going to see another side of that fan base.”
Roster Remade for Luka Doncic
That is one of the difficult dynamics facing Doncic and the Lakers now going forward. There were obvious calls to reshape the roster, to get younger and more athletic, and the team has done that this summer–particularly by acquiring center Walker Kessler and getting Austin Reaves back on a free-agent contract.
Well done on that account, but for Doncic, it just means that the Lakers have now built a roster designed to highlights his strengths and minimize his weaknesses, at least to the extent that the salary cap and luxury tax rules allowed. That increases the pressure to win, quickly, despite the fact that the Thunder and Spurs are clearly ahead of the Lakers in the West, while Denver and Minnesota are likely ahead, too.
Lakers May Ask Luka Doncic to Do Impossible
Doncic has a good Lakers roster around him. But it’s not great, which means … a second-round playoff exit, perhaps, at best? A first-round exit or (gasp!) a play-in spot at worst? The Lakers need more to truly contend, and they do not have the tools to get it.
How long will Lakers fans give Doncic a pass? Maybe he will be asked to do something impossible in getting the Lakers to the Finals, but like Cousins said, that’s the standard.
“I’ve seen it before,” Cousins said. “This was a year they won a championship and I watched some (expletive) on Kyle Kuzma. I watched some (expletive) on KCP. So, I don’t know. It’ll be interesting to see.”
Ex-Lakers Big Man Issues Stark Warning to Luka Doncic After Roster Moves