On day one of the lockout, I rattled off the top-5 guys that I thought were most likely to return out of shape from the time off. I think it’s inevitable that certain guys will have been impacted, but I only chose five. Because of the weight issues surrounding him at Kentucky, coupled with his youth and new-found riches, I threw DeMarcus Cousins on the list.
Now, in DeMarcus’ defense, I saw him play a few times this summer in various pro-am games (including one in-person at Capital Punishment in DC) and he didn’t appear to be heavier. But of course, that can’t be the only indicator. Based on my previous out-of-shape post, someone sent me a link from AllKYhoops, where Cousins was recently stopped by what appears to be local Sacramento reporters, outside of a Kings facility. He was peppered with a series of questions, one pertaining to his weight. That question obviously rubbed him the wrong way but I loved how he handled himself. Rather than blow-up at the reporter which wouldn’t have ended well for him, he sarcastically joked around with them in order to get his point across. It was his clever way of shutting me and everyone else up, who’s concerned about the shape that he’s in. Well played, DeMarcus.
If you’re looking for your everyday, predictable basketball talk, then go somewhere else, because Kevin Burke of The Kevin Burke Project brings provocative, thought provoking content about basketball as only he can. Kevin also hosts The Hoop Doctors weekly podcast show, which you can subscribe to for free on iTunes. Follow Kevin on Twitter and Facebook