DeMarcus Cousins has not picked up a single technical foul yet, which means he is on pace to accomplish his self-proclaimed goal of getting whistled for a maximum of five “T”s all season.
His team is the surprise of the Western Conference, with all due respect to the conference-leading Grizzlies, Rockets and Warriors, and he is in the top 10 in scoring (23.0 ppg, 9th) and rebounding (11.1, 8th) following a summer in which he went through a much-needed maturation process while playing for Team USA.
Here’s another thing about Cousins that you may not have realized: He is smart. Some might say he is wise, as in wise guy. But the guy has an IQ that is higher than some might imagine, and he helped lead the Sacramento Kings to their first 5-game winning streak since 2007 — a subject covered in much greater detail in this terrific column from Chris Bernucca.
What does this mean? In my book, it means he is the leader coming out of the gate in the MVP race.
Yes, I know, I know. It is too early to be ranking the MVP candidates. The season is not even 10 percent complete yet. (And that is why our weekly MVP rankings have not yet begun to be published).
But for all the arguments that can be made in favor of Klay Thompson (the Warriors are undefeated with him in the lineup), Stephen Curry (he is leading the league in scoring), DeMar DeRozan (he is the leading scorer for the East-leading Toronto Raptors) and James Harden (he might get to the free throw line twice as many times as anyone else in the entire league), the guy who has led his team to a start that no one would have rightly imagined is the guy they call “Boogie.”
More on Cousins in this video with CineSport’s Noah Coslov.
BEn w says
Marc Gasol is going ti be in the mix. He’s in a contract year. Maybe last year with ZBo. The Griz ar motivated.
KuH says
If you were to pick a Raptor as MVP it would have to be Kyle Lowry. He is far more important to that team than Demar Derozan is.