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Four-Time NBA All-Star Reveals Why LA Clippers Did Not Sign Him

Kawhi Leonard and Paul George reportedly wanted this player on the Clippers.
Joey Linn|
LA Clippers center DeMarcus Cousins (15) prior to game one in the second round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs.
LA Clippers center DeMarcus Cousins (15) prior to game one in the second round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs. | Jeffrey Swinger-Imagn Images

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Los Angeles Clippers

Four-time NBA All-Star DeMarcus Cousins was one of the game’s best centers during his prime. Playing 11 seasons in the NBA, Cousins averaged 19.6 points and 10.2 rebounds.

Spending seven seasons with the Sacramento Kings, Cousins had his best years there, but was also playing at a superstar level with the New Orleans Pelicans prior to his injuries. Suffering a ruptured achilles in 2018, Cousins joined the Warriors that offseason where he appeared in 30 games before suffering a torn left quadriceps in the first round of the playoffs.

While Cousins returned for the NBA Finals, he suffered another devastating injury in the offseason, tearing his ACL. This injury cost Cousins the entire 2019-20 season and really began the end of his career.

Cousins had a brief stint with the LA Clippers during the 2020-21 season, and during an episode of the Above the Rim podcast, he revealed both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George wanted him back the next season.

“My last year I had Kawhi and PG on my line,” Cousins said. “’Bro we trying to get you here.’ But Lawrence Frank determines if I’m good enough or not? Your two franchise guys want me there.”

This clip is from a podcast episode released last month, but it has been going viral on X the last several days. With many fans reacting to Cousins’ comments, this post has over 330,000 views.

According to Cousins, Leonard and George wanted him back, but team president Lawrence Frank did not.

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Joey Linn
JOEY LINN

Joey Linn is a credentialed writer covering the NBA and WNBA for On SI. Covering the LA Clippers independently in 2018, then for Fansided and 213Hoops from 2019-2021, Joey joined On SI to cover the Clippers after the 2020-21 season. Graduating from Biola University in 2022 with a Communication Studies degree, Joey served as Biola's play-by-play announcer for their basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. Joey's work on Biola's broadcasts and in the classroom earned him the Outstanding Communication Studies Student of the year award in 2022. Joey covers the NBA full-time, primarily serving as a Clippers beat writer.

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