DeMarcus Cousins On ‘Podcast P With Paul George’

DeMarcus Cousins on All-Star Weekend, reflects on trade to Pelicans, Zach Randolph trash talk, and more on “Podcast P with Paul George”.

We share this week’s episode of “Podcast P with Paul George”, presented by Wave Sports + Entertainment, where PG and the guys are joined by 4x NBA All-Star, DeMarcus “Boogie” Cousins in front of a live audience at this year’s All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis.

During the interview, all-NBA center offers a glimpse into life away from the NBA, including falling in love with being a full-time parent as well as his brief time spent playing overseas and gaining a newfound respect for the talent that is grinding it out in other leagues.

Later, Cousins looks back on some of his most memorable on-court exchanges and heated rivalries including the famous “bullies get bullied” moment between him and Zach Randolph, and doing battle with the likes of Tim Duncan and Dirk Nowitzki towards the end of their careers.

Lastly, Boogie delves into the surprise move that sent him from the Sacramento Kings to the New Orleans Pelicans following the 2017 All-Star Game, revealing the emotional rollercoaster he experienced at that time.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

• 13:31 – COUSINS ON “BULLIES GET BULLIED” WITH ZACH RANDOLPH

Cousins: “Hell no uh I want none of that like you know, I mean Bo [Zach Randolph] was big bro. [The] camera caught [him saying] some slick shit…I thought it was dope as hell. I was like damn that was some good shit. You know what I mean, P I’m always trying to say some slick shit so he caught me with some slick shit and it was dope. But I mean being on the outside you think it’s way more than it is but it’s just basketball. We talk our shit and we hoop. Some [are] better at it than others. Some guys don’t take that route, some do, it’s just how the league works.”

• 14:50 – COUSINS ON GETTING TRADED TO THE PELICANS AFTER 2017 ALL-STAR GAME

PG: “We do want to fast-forward. We want to talk about All-Star Weekend, 2017. You actually played a hell of a game at All-Star Weekend, I remember that. You was with the [Sacramento] Kings. You then get traded after the All-Star Game, you get traded to the [New Orleans] Pelicans. Walk us through what the hell that felt like because that had to be hell of emotion because I think it was in New Orleans too, right?”

Cousins: “All in all I felt stupid as hell. It was like one of them situations when I felt like everyone knew what was going on except me. Everybody was looking at me so it was like damn what just happened? It was confusing. And it was like I don’t really know what to believe right now. Obviously you [are] caught up in the moment, it’s unexpected. I mean in the moment of that video, I just had to tell myself just hold yourself together until we know what the fuck is going on, you know what I mean? That shit was embarrassing as hell, P!”

PG: “But like they ain’t come to you at all?”

Cousins: “I had no clue, I found out in that video. At the time the PR guy…that’s the guy you come tell me in my ear. So that’s when I found out.”

• 26:55 – COUSINS ON BEING EMOTIONAL DURING HIS FIRST GAME AGAINST THE KINGS, IN SAC

Cousins: “Well for me, I’m an emotional player anyway so I was definitely emotional about the situation [and] how everything played out. So for me, it hit a little different. Early on, I had a fire to just destroy these motherfuckers every chance I got. If I didn’t have over 30 [points] with a [win] I had a horrible night, that was my mindset when it came to facing the Kings. I think it also goes to just being a competitor. When you go through these different things like adversity in your career…for most athletes it’s either used to help motivate you and build you up or it’s going to be the point where it crumbles you and defeats you. So whenever I went through my situations or things I just didn’t agree with, it’s going to always be a form of motivation for me.”

• 28:59 – COUSINS ON HIS THOUGHTS ON NOT GETTING CREDIT FOR REINVENTING THE CENTER POSITION

PG: “I gotta ask bro, do you think you get – we see Jokic, right? But watching him, he [is] not the first to do what he’s doing. I think you, for a long period of time…you kind of reinvented that center position with scoring, with passing with rebounding. Do you think you get that credit that you deserve from that center [position]?”

Cousins: “I don’t. But I’m okay with that cuz that’s just how this shit goes. You ain’t always going to get your flowers, it just is what it is. It may be the opinion of the majority, whatever the case may be. But as long as my peers know what I’m about and what I brought to this game, that’s the part that validates it for me. Like I’m secure in myself knowing that part.”

• 32:23 – COUSINS ON SHIFTING HIS MINDSET AWAY FROM THE NBA AND FALLING IN LOVE WITH BEING A FULL-TIME FATHER

Cousins: “I’ll never accept the fact that the label is that I can’t play the game anymore. As a competitor, as driven as I’ve been since I stepped foot in this game – the blood, sweat, and tears I put behind it – I’ll never accept that. I could be completely fucking wrong, and that’s cool too…But I had to come to peace when it came to my family and my situation at home…People don’t realize when it comes to this career like this shit takes all [of] our time, not a little bit, not most of it. It takes all of it…It’s a lot of stress on your family and a lot of stress on your home and it always us in a position of trying to play catch up or play fix it but it’s never going to be right because all of your time is going to this [basketball]…So me being home, being able to get my household under control, set the standard of being an everyday dad meant the world. Just being able to wake up, take my kids to school [and then] pick them up. I wasn’t able to do that shit because we [are] always gone…Once I was able to experience that part of my life I fell in love with it. And that part helped me really shift my entire mindset.”

• 46:47 – COUSINS SHARES HIS PERSPECTIVE PLAYING OVERSEAS AND GAINING A NEWFOUND RESPECT FOR THE PLAYERS THAT ARE GRINDING IN OTHER LEAGUES

Cousins: “That shit different bro…Honestly, it just gave me a brand new perspective on hooping in general. I was blessed enough to be in a situation where I came up through high school, I did my one year in college, went to the NBA. That’s as perfect as a route it will ever be to becoming a professional athlete. So you hear these stories and meet these different guys that have gone through a completely different grind. The Pat Beverley’s the PJ Tucker’s guys of that nature. You hear the stories but you can’t really feel it or understand it completely. So then going to the other side of it gave me a brand new perspective for this shit. There are some fucking dogs overseas. Like hoopers. Real-life hoopers!”