LOS ANGELES — DeMarcus Cousins had a serious case of the nerves before his Warriors debut Friday night. His girlfriend, Morgan Lang, then reminded him how far he has come in his journey back to the NBA, and it settled him down.
Cousins’ return to the court not only was anticipated by the public but by the man himself. Nearly a year after his ruptured Achilles sidelined him from the sport he loves, he felt ready enough to play again.
Leading up to the game, Cousins felt a tightening of his stomach — butterflies. He was nervous. So much so that he text his family, who reminded him that he has been playing basketball his whole life. It should be like riding a bicycle.
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It was Lang, however, who got through to Cousins most effectively.
“My girl,” Cousins said, “she sent me a great message before the game. It just put everything in perspective for me. She sent me this picture. It was the day after I had my surgery and I’m sitting in a wheelchair in L.A., staring out at a sunset.
“It wasn’t planned or anything, but you know she caught a good moment, and she sent it to me and was like, ‘Think about where you are now, and where you came from.’ It kind of put everything in perspective for me.”
Lang posted that same picture on Instagram.
Golden State Warriors
Once the game clock started running, Cousins felt great, and the ride on the bike got smoother.
“Once the ball went up,” he said, “everything kind of went out the window, and it all fell from there.”
Cousins had a notable debut that was better than many expected. He played 15 minutes before fouling out to a standing ovation but only after scoring 14 points in the Warriors' 112-94 win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Even Steve Kerr expressed that it was a kind of happy surprise.
“I would say so,” the Warriors coach said. “I didn’t anticipate him making three 3s. I know he can shoot from out there, we all know that, but first-game jitters and fatigue. I wouldn’t have expected him to knock down the two big shots that really broke the whole thing open. It was kind of fitting.”
Cousins said the entire night made him feel like a kid at Christmas.
“This is probably one of the best days of my life,” Cousins said. “Just being out there on the floor again playing the game that I love. My teammates were great. They supported me through this entire process.”
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While Cousins knows there’s still a long way to go in building chemistry with his new team and learning more of the offense, there were things that made him feel great about his first game back. One was his first-quarter dunk for his first two points as a Warrior.
“I’m just glad to know I can still dunk,” Cousins joked. “Nah, it felt good. I never would have thought in a million years that would have been my first basket playing ball again. But I like that it happened, and I wouldn’t change it.”