DeMarcus Cousins, who has been out of the NBA for more than a season, has signed a 10-day contract to play for the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the Taiwanese league.
The team has confirmed this on their Facebook page, it was first reported stateside by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Former NBA center DeMarcus Cousins has signed with the T1 League's Taiwan Beer Leopards, and is to make his debut on Jan. 20, the Taoyuan-based team announced on Monday
— Taipei Times (@taipei_times) December 18, 2023
Photo: Taiwan Beer Leopards pic.twitter.com/9dQEzwpC0w
“We’re confident that with [Cousins’s] all-around skills, he’ll bring a totally new chemistry to the Leopards,” the team’s CEO Johnny Chang said in a statement, via Focus Taiwan.
For clarification, while Taiwan Beer Leopards may be my new favorite team name in all of sports, the team is the Leopards and is sponsored by Taiwan Beer. This team — currently second in the Taiwanese league — is the same franchise Dwight Howard played for last season.
Cousins last appeared in the NBA at the end of the 2022 season, playing backup center for the Nuggets behind Nikola Jokic and doing a solid job (he averaged 8.9 points and 5.5 rebounds a game and he had a 31-point night against the Rockets). However, his injury history, reputation as a challenge for the coaching staff and front office (which Cousins says is in his past), and age (33) have limited his options in the NBA. He played briefly in Puerto Rico last season.
Cousins is a four-time All-Star, averaging 19.6 points and 10.2 rebounds a game across 11 NBA seasons. He also won an Olympic gold medal with Team USA in the Rio Olympics.
