When the Warriors hosted the Wizards in October, John Wall dropped some knowledge about his old college roommate at the University of Kentucky, DeMarcus Cousins.
For months, I’ve been waiting to ask Cousins about his favorite slow jams. I wanted to know his top five.
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Some of his favorites came to mind instantly, but he also got frustrated that he couldn’t recall some of his faves when he was on the spot.
He rattled off three songs right away: Jagged Edge, “I Gotta Be.” Boyz II Men, “On Bended Knee.” Drake, “Jaded.”
Cousins continued, taking a long pause and looking up to the ceiling as he searched his memory bank.
“There’s this song with Erykah Badu ... umm …” He snapped his fingers. “It’s with one of the Marleys … I think it’s ‘In Love With You.’ ”
Golden State Warriors
He kept searching for song names and said, “I can’t think,” so I prompted him. “What was the stuff you grew up with?”
“I love old school,” he said. “I like Barry White, I like blues, I like Sir Charles, Gap Band ...”
“Do you and Draymond see eye to eye?” I asked. “He seems like an old-school kind of guy.”
“We actually do,” Cousins exclaimed. “We’ll ride home sometimes, and he’ll throw something on and we’ll just vibe out.”
“Do you harmonize together?”
“No, we ain’t gonna go that far,” he laughed.
Cousins said he enjoys a wide range of artists. “I listen to Adele. I love ... what was that album called? ‘21’?”
“Yes! That was her heartache album!”
“Oh my god, that s**t was hard!” Cousins said.
He kept going. “Aaliyah, 4 Page Letter. I love somebody, but he’s in a lot of s**t right now,” Cousins said, hinting at R. Kelly. “I love Brian McKnight. I like Kem, K-E-M.”
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I told Cousins this slow jams chat would be published around Valentine’s Day. When he played his first game on Jan. 18, he told reporters that the woman he calls “my lady” reminded him how far he’s come, from a wheelchair after surgery, to playing with the defending NBA champions.
“If you could dedicate a song to your lady, what would it be?”
“Oh my God, you are killing me right now!” he said, but a look of love came over his face as he thought of her. “I don’t know right now! I’m about to go through my damn playlist!”
He opened his phone and scrolled.
“Oh, I love Usher. I love Maxwell. Maxwell, actually. Fortunate.”
To Cousins’ lady ... this song goes out to you.