A Very Fun Interview with DeMarcus Cousins

Halfway through last season, the New Orleans Pelicans appeared to be the team nobody wanted to face in the playoffs. With Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins leading the way, the team was climbing up the standings. After years toiling in Sacramento without a single playoff appearance, Cousins was set to finally make his postseason debut.

And then, in late January, Cousins suffered a season-ending injury, tearing his left Achilles in a game against the Houston Rockets. His season was over. He would watch from the bench in the playoffs. Last summer, he was slated for a max-level contract, but his injury would change the course of that too. Instead, he surprised the entire league by signing a one-year, $5.3 million contract with the Golden State Warriors.

Almost a year to the date of his injury, Cousins made his return to the court in January against the Los Angeles Clippers. Now, he’s set to finally make his playoff debut on a team with aspirations of completing a three-peat. And Cousins, who grew up watching ComicView religiously, will be hosting the third annual Boogie’s Comedy Slam! today in Oakland. Guests will include Mike Epps, Red Grant, Tony Roberts, Karlous Miller, Lewis Belt, and others.

We recently spoke to Cousins about his dream lineup for a potential roast, the best prank he’s pulled on an NBA teammate, how Drake got his high school jersey for the “In My Feelings” video, racist NBA fans, and why being real can be hard sometimes.

GQ: So if The Roast of DeMarcus Cousins actually happened, which three comedians and three NBA players would you have on the dais?

DeMarcus Cousins: For sure Tony Roberts. Cedric The Entertainer. And my favorite: Martin Lawrence. For NBA players, I’d go with Andre Iguodala, Draymond Green and Reggie Evans.

Are those the funniest teammates you’ve had?

Actually the funniest teammate I’ve ever had is Travis Outlaw. He’s from Mississippi and has this southern twang. So anything he says is just the funniest shit. Anything that came out of his mouth was hilarious.

You pulled a famous prank on Nik Stauskas during his rookie season when you filled his apartment with popcorn. Was that hard to pull off?

It’s tradition to put popcorn in a rookie’s car. Nik thought he could cheat the system by not getting a car, so we just popcorned his apartment instead. The rookies have to be at the arena super early on game day. The vets show up a little later and his apartment was directly across the street from the arena. One game, Rudy Gay and I just showed up early, and when Nik went to the court to warm up, he had his house keys in his locker, we took his keys and went to his apartment and just had a ball.

Have you ever had a prank pulled on you?

I’ve had vets steal my car and hide it from me, but nothing severe like that.

I read that you and Draymond Green live on the same street now. What’s the best and worst part about living next to Draymond?

The best part: his mom comes in town and she cooks these tacos, they call them Saginaw Tacos so I’m always invited over when she’s there. The worst part is when he decides to just pop by and harrass me.

You and Draymond should start a podcast.

I’ve heard that before. I don’t know. Maybe. I don’t know. Maybe.

Is it because you’re still playing and can’t say everything that’s on your mind?

That’s pretty much the case, because when me and Draymond talk, we really get in depth. We’re about honesty and keeping it 100. I don’t know if we would be able to do that right now on a podcast. [laughs]

I’ve always wanted to ask you: Drake wore your high school jersey in the “In My Feelings” video, how did that get arranged?

He was shooting the video in New Orleans, and my hometown, Mobile, Alabama was two hours away. I was in New Orleans at the time, and we’re all good friends. He called my manager and asked if he could get my high school jersey for the video. The jersey was hanging in my high school gym, so they had to go there and take it down.

My brother was at home in Mobile and Drake paid him some money to drive it up to the shoot. He got to chill on the video set and it was pretty cool.

So he owes you a favor now.

[Laughs] Nah, that’s family. It’s always love.

After your injury last year, did you have to change your diet?

I did. More lean meals and just trying to keep the weight off because I was just sitting around and doing nothing. I couldn’t do cardio or anything with my lower body. So I definitely had to switch up my meals.

I was listening to you on Chris Haynes’ podcast recently and you rejected the salad that was brought to you because it didn’t have enough personality. What’s a salad with personality?

They basically brought me lettuce and carrots. I wasn’t too excited about that. [laughs] I like beets in my salad. Fresh beets. I love feta cheese. Goat cheese. Just something to add in some flavour. It’s a salad. That’s hard enough. You gotta have a nice dressing.

Are you picky with your salad dressing.

I wouldn’t say I’m picky, but I’m a balsamic type of guy.

Your Showtime documentary The Resurgence: DeMarcus Cousins is debuting on April 13th. It tracks your comeback from your injury. When it happened last season, you were having an incredible year, you were gonna go to the playoffs for the first time, did you say, “Why me? Why did this happen to me right now?”

Initially, yes. I would be lying if I say I didn’t. Eventually it turned into: what am I preparing myself for next. Adversity isn’t always a negative thing. It can be looked at as a positive thing. It builds you up and strengthens you for the next test. That’s how I looked at it.

It was reported recently that the Boston Celtics banned a fan for two seasons after he called you the n-word this season at a game. Did you think that punishment was appropriate? Maybe a lifetime suspension would have been more appropriate in my opinion.

I’m not really the type of person to be out here wishing punishment on people. It was sad. It was ignorant. I move on from it. I don’t harp on that type of stuff. He’ll be dealt with however he’ll be dealt with in life. As far as the ban, I don’t care. It does nothing for myself.

This happens in a lot of NBA cities. Do players talk? And does it affect how you look at a city as a potential place to play in?

Not at all. I don’t label an entire city or an entire fanbase because of a few bad apples. The individual was ignorant. It is what it is.

A few true or false questions for you. True or false: you don’t care for the media.

True. It’s the evilness of the business that I don’t really care about, not the media per say. It’s the ill intent that comes along with it. Searching for headlines, searching for stories, clickbait. That’s the part I don’t like.

True or false: You don’t care about your reputation with the refs.

True. It’s overblown. And it falls into the media thing. The media pushes that. They need narratives. They place tags on certain players to push those narratives. It’s overblown.

True or false: The NBA players that irritates you the most is Chris Paul.

[Laughs] False.

So who is it?

Nobody. Honestly, nobody irritates me that much.

So you and Chris are cool? You’ve had so many back and forths with him.

I wouldn’t say we’re cool, but it’s not like I’m waking up and thinking about how much I dislike him. He’s just another guy I have to play against.

True or false: Kevin Durant can’t beat you one-on-one.

Oh, that’s true.

We have evidence too.

He will kill me for saying it’s true, but it is what it is. I’m confident in my ability, he’s confident in his, but I’m rolling with myself on this one.

True or false: Klay Thompson is the player most likely to score 100 points in a game. I’m asking because I told him this a few years ago and he disagreed.

When he gets hot. It can get scary. So I agree with that.

I know Steph is amazing too.

But Klay, he just completely zones out and like, I don’t know how to explain it, he just turns into someone else. Anything is possible with that dude.

Is he as chill as everyone says he is?

Yeah, that’s not a lie. [laughs] All the time. Klay is always in his own little world. Just random thoughts, random statements. All the time. He’s so chill you can forget he’s in the room.

You compared the coverage of the Warriors to a soap opera. I know you watched a lot of soaps with your grandmother growing up, do you have a favorite show?

Actually, I do not. I hated it. I wouldn’t tell my grandmother what I wanted to watch because she controlled the television. I was just there. I hated those shows.

On your Instagram profile, you have a quote that says “They hate you when u fake, but hate you more if you real.” What do you mean by that?

People say they hate having fake people around, but when you keep it real, they hate you even more. People don’t like the truth. People don’t like when people are straight forward. They like things to be sugar coated. They like to beat around the bush. I’m not that type of person. I’m honest in everything I do and it turns people away. It’s obvious, because I have this narrative around me, that I’m this type of person. But all I’ve ever been is be honest and speak my mind, and it rubs people the wrong way. That’s why I put that quote there.

It seems like you don’t care about what people think anyways.

I actually do. I just don’t go out of my way to impress anybody. You either appreciate me for who I am or you don’t. That’s just the way it is. I’m comfortable in my own skin. I have my family, my loved ones and they love me for who I am.