Four-time NBA All-Star DeMarcus Cousins is scheduled to arrive in Taiwan tomorrow night ahead of his debut with the Taiwan Beer Leopards of the professional T1 League on Saturday, the franchise said yesterday.
Cousins is scheduled to arrive on flight CI5 from Los Angeles at 9:30pm at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 2, the Leopards wrote on social media, inviting fans to show up with their Cousins memorabilia to welcome him.
A news conference introducing the 2010 NBA draft’s fifth overall pick is to be held at 7pm on Friday at Sheraton Taoyuan Hotel, but there will be no official livestream of the event, the franchise told reporters.
Photo: AP
Cousins is expected to make his T1 League debut on Saturday against the Tainan TSG GhostHawks at Taoyuan Arena at 2pm and then play New Taipei CTBC DEA, the defending champions, on Sunday at 7pm, also on the Leopards’ home court in Taoyuan.
The Leopards initially announced the signing of Cousins on Dec. 18 to a short-term contract, indicating that he would participate in the team’s four home games this weekend and next weekend.
A post on X by ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski following the announcement suggested that it was a 10-day deal, covering four games.
However, Leopards chief executive officer Johnny Chang on Dec. 19 denied that in an interview, saying that it was a month-long contract and the franchise planned to renew it month-by-month based on the player’s chemistry with the team.
“In addition to chemistry, it [was signed this way] due to [Cousins’] personal concerns and his concerns for his family,” Chang said.
The Leopards signed Dwight Howard to a contract covering nearly the entire 2022-2023 season, but after going 6-24 while Howard was with the club, the team seems to be taking a more cautious approach with their new NBA target.
Nicknamed “Boogie,” the 2.08m player recorded 19.6 points and 10.2 rebounds in his decade-plus NBA career, which was derailed by serious injuries.
Following steady progress in his first three seasons, Cousins averaged more than 20 points per game for seven straight seasons from 2013 to 2018.
However, after he tore his left Achilles tendon in January 2018, he took almost a year to recover.
He sustained another season-ending injury when he tore his left quadriceps in April 2019.
Amid his efforts to return to the court with the Los Angeles Lakers, he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during a practice in August 2019 and was sidelined for the entire 2019-2020 season.
Cousins joined the Toronto Raptors in 2020, but changed teams five times in the next two seasons.
He played his last NBA games during the 2021-2022 season.
The Leopards are on a four-game winning streak, sitting second in the T1 League with an 8-4 record. They are 0.5 games behind DEA and 0.5 games ahead of the Kaohsiung Aquas.
The club on Saturday unexpectedly relieved head coach Michael Olson of his duties and has had franchise consultant Jhou Jyun-san serve as head coach since then.
Leopards chief operating officer Johnny Yen said that the club is seeking a non-Taiwanese head coach.
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